Joel and I decided that we would start a new family tradition and take Avery and our future children to enjoy the fall season in a fun way. After reading a mom group calendar I found out about Carrigan Farms. Carrigan Farms is a farm that in the fall has hay rides, pumpkins, cider, and a small petting zoo. They also have strawberry picking and apple harvesting during the right seasons. Since it's pretty close to our home we decided that we would take her yesterday.

I did a little research by checking out their website, asking a few friends, and by emailing one of the Carrigans from Carrigan Farms for information and tips. I found out that typically on Saturdays it gets a little crazy around 10:45. So we decided that we would go earlier than later, for Avery's nap sake, as well as being able to beat the rush.

When we arrived we saw a huge line of pumpkins piled up, so we knew we should get some pictures just in case little one got cranky at the end. Luckily there were lots of families, so we "exchanged" taking pictures for one another so we could get our whole family in. So nice to have family pictures.

We walked over to the hay ride loading area and had to wait for the next ride. While we waited Joel and Avery walked and checked out rocks, the shed, and the tractor mowing. Honestly, I think she just enjoyed being outside. She absolutely loves the outdoors.

We met a really nice family who then "exchanged" taking photos of our families on the hay trailor as well. Avery had a small snack and we enjoyed the great weather. We were very blessed with a sunny, slightly cool day. Perfect for fall.

The hay ride was one of my favorite moments because I got to hold my little/big girl and enjoy being in God's creation. We saw lots of apple trees, strawberry fields, and were amazed by the sun hitting the beautiful pond surrounded by trees.

Avery's favorite part of the day, which I was super surprised by, was the "petting zoo." I was a little apprehensive because she tends not to like animals, especially dogs because they are agressive. But she didn't even need to warm up to the animals. Maybe because I had been talking about it that whole morning, or maybe she was just in the right mood. Nonetheless, she first checked out the chickens and of course was making some chicken noises. We also saw a big, fat, turkey, whom I'm sure probably won't be around after November 27th. There were really cute lambs and goat kids. The piglets were probably the friendliest animals of them all though and I even got to touch little Wilbur's nose as he ate grass from my hand. I wish we would have stayed at this area longer, but there's always next year right?

After that, the pumpkin patch was wide open for us to "search" for our perfect Great Pumpkin. It felt a lot like we were picking out a Christmas tree, trying to find one that wasn't too green, round enough, not moldy and squashed (yes there were some lovely ones like that in the patch.) We ended up finding two nice medium sized pumpkins which will be carved and placed by the front door for seasonal effect of course. If I get ambitious I may even bake some pumpkin seeds, mmm miss those!

The fresh air did us all very well. Avery ended up taking a short nap on our way to lunch, but woke up so happy she said, "Yay!" She must have been dreaming about Carrigan Farms. We had a nice family lunch, even though Avery couldn't have been less interested in her meal.

I really loved spending this quality time with the family and am excited for years to come, even if the kids are not so cooperative or the weather doesn't work out. It'll be something that is "ours."

Happy Fall from The Bullocks!!!