We left it a little late this year, but finally on Tuesday afternoon we drove down to the pumpkin farm and picked up our Halloween gourds. I was very sad that my camera battery died right when I went to take the first picture, because the kids were having lots of fun with the three baby calves that were there. All the mama cows had just come in from the field to get milked, and were happily munching away on hay. It looked pretty cool to see that long line of soft brown heads all poking through the bars at the same time. The calves were very eager to lick any hands we offered them, and the kids couldn't believe how soft their fur was. And, as usual, we were greeted by the big friendly Bernese mountain dog that lives on the farm. The thing is about as big as one of the calves, but so gentle and sweet the kids soon learned they didn't have to be scared at all.
The farmer was busy hooking up the cows to the milking machines, but waved a friendly hello as he saw us walking past. Then we went on into the barn which was set up with a huge display of pumpkins set out on hay bales. There were a couple wagons filled with smaller, decorative pumpkins and squashes and then one giant tractor bed filled with orange carving pumpkins. There was even a sign on these, declaring them "Halloween" pumpkins. 🙂 I let the kids choose whatever one they wanted, but did rule out the gigantic ones right at the start. I didn't want to have to carry one of those up all our stairs!
Amelia was the only one who actually wanted to carve her pumpkin, so she chose one from the "Halloween" pile. Sophie picked out one from the decorative pile, so I let her get a second slightly larger one to paint. Noah's was by far the coolest, he found a black pumpkin! I think I am going to get one next year and carve it myself. I bet that would look really spooky all lit up. I also chose a green one to turn into pumpkin soup.
The farmer came over to help us weight everything, and noticed the green pumpkin in my arms. He asked me what I was planning to make with it, and I told him. He said that wasn't really a good soup pumpkin, and showed me a couple others that were. I gladly chose a different one, my mouth watering in anticipation of the soup already. We also had him fill a couple 1 1/2 liter bottles with freshly pressed apple cider. I don't know what it is about this particular farm, if they use a special sort of apple, or a different pressing process, but their apple cider is the absolute best we have ever tasted. We have tried kinds from many different farms, but this is the one we dream about all year. It seriously tastes like you are biting right into the apple when you drink it. SO GOOD! Sadly, Chris couldn't drink it, as it wasn't pasteurized, and he can only consume apples once when they have been heated, due to his allergies. But the rest of us still managed to down all 3 liters well before it fermented.
The kids really wanted to paint their pumpkins that night, but it was too late by the time we got home. We did enjoy some delicious pumpkin soup washed down with cider, however. I sent them off to bed, promising we could decorate the pumpkins the next day after school.