Stokoe Farms

Saturday, we joined the Hewitson's and headed on down to Stokoe Farms for some fun Fall activities, and pumpkin pickin'. This was our first year trying Stokoe's, as we had always enjoyed Fall at Brown's Berry Patch. But, due to an untimely scheduled 5k run and craft show, this year we were diverted to Stokoe's. And we were all (especially the kids) very glad that we were. There was more to do than we could fit into the few hours we had allotted.

Upon entering the gate, we were greeted by a clown driving a souped-up, fire spewing, Hot Wheels, classic John Deere tractor with a bubbling Elmo head on the front. This, of course, scared Isabelle to death, and put her into instant tears. We spent the rest of the day playing "keep away" from the "Elmo" tractor so that Izzy would stay happy.

Once inside the farm, Gavin and Ryan made a bee-line for the giant slide in the middle of the fun. They had a great time sliding down on their burlap sacs, and since Izzy and I also gave it a whirl, I can say it really was a good time. Right next to the slide was the pyramid of hay bales, with six tunnels running underneath. We "lost" the boys here for quite some time, as they climbed over, and under, and through the pyramid non-stop. This gave Izzy and Jessica a chance to check out the giant play pit full of corn kernels (think sand box, with REALLY BIG pieces of sand), and Scott and I a chance to scope out the fresh Kettle Corn stand.

Then we hopped a convenient hay-wagon ride out into the fields, to try our hands at some more fun. First stop was the pedal bikes. Gavin, Ryan, Scott, and even Donna and Isabelle had a great time doing a lap of the course. Scott was the victor of the day, turning a great lap time ahead of the boys. Donna and Izzy brought up the rear, but ended with all smiles.

The wagon wheel race proved to be a demonstration of patience, timing, and agility as we paired up to try our hand at using our body motion to roll a very large wagon wheel down and back across the field. Gavin and Ryan did incredibly well in their wheel for carrying such a low total team weight. Scott and Jessica, and Me and Isabelle took the slow and steady approach as we maintained a balance between moving the wheels forward, while not getting out of control that we spun our smaller partners up and around the wheel.

Then, got to test our marksmanship with the pumpkin shooters. What a blast. Three mini pumpkins for a buck, bought you the opportunity to do what your parents always lectured you not to. Put a pumpkin into a GIANT slingshot, and send it hurtling towards any one of the targets set up in the field. A large hay bale, a small plastic boat, or, the target that everyone strives for, the full-size Chevy van. Yep, so much for "don't point that thing at cars". Whoo-hoo. Game on!

Finally, with the kids just about at their limit, we headed out into the field to acquire our main purpose of the day. Pumpkins. Gavin and Isabelle have apparently been finely trained in the art of pumpkin picking, as they found quality, round pumpkins in a matter of minutes. Preventing the long walk across the field with a whining child (or whining parent). So, with our bodies tired, and arms full of pumpkins, we called it a day. We only covered about half of the farm, so we all agreed that we will have to make the trip back next year to try again.