Tranquillity Farms

After having such a fun time at Tranquillity Farms last year, when it came time to pick a pumpkin for Halloween this year, we knew exactly where to go! We were thrilled when my brother and his family decided to join us!

This year, things seemed a little smaller. There was a bounce house, a blow up slide, an area for pony rides and a couple of vendors, but that was about it. The gigantic corn maze where we got lost last year wasn't set up. Still, the kids had fun exploring the corn box (Think: sand box, but with corn kernels instead of sand.), bouncing in the bounce house and running through a corn stalk tunnel. We all took a scenic hayride out through the fields and into the pumpkin patch, then stayed on the hayride instead of exploring the pumpkin patch because we planned to buy one of the larger pumpkins that were at the farm stand back at the main part of the farm. The hayride was a great deal at $2 per person. We also bought each of the big kids a wristband for $5 which included the hayride and unlimited bouncing in the inflatable bounce house and slide.

Of course, the kids climbed all over the John Deere tractor and stuck their faces into strategically placed holes depicting two growing sunflowers and three scary ghosts before we called it a day.

Next year, we will have to check the calendar to see if there's a weekend where there are more activities scheduled and plan to go that weekend. We love this little gem of a farm and think it's one of our area's best kept secrets!

Family Day

Today was a beautiful day -- warm and sunny! We headed out to The Chatterbox for lunch and ran into one of my classmates from high school and a friend of Claire's from dance class. The restaurant was packed!!! After waiting in the long line to get a table, we were seated next to the platform in the middle of the restaurant where an orange Thunderbird was parked. It was very Halloween-y. After perusing the menu, we were both shocked when Claire ordered a hamburger for lunch (gasp!)! I wasn't sure if she'd eat it, and tried in vain to talk her into a hot dog, but she ended up eating about 1/4-1/3 of the hamburger. We made a big deal out of it to, hopefully, encourage her to order outside of her comfort zone in the future. Like mother, like daughter. : )

@ The Chatterbox

After lunch, we headed right across the street to Ideal Farms. It's a cute little farm with some steer (I think!?! I'm not an expert on livestock.), a few little animals, a small play structure, a haunted barn and lots of little boards with cutouts where visitors can stick their heads in and pretend to be princesses, Sponge Bob and other characters (I actually purchased some really nice mums there a few weeks prior.). After visiting Tranquillity Farms a few weeks ago, Claire was disappointed that this farm didn't have any rides. We went through the haunted barn (Claire's first experience in a "haunted house") and she loved it! Luckily, there were no live people inside to scare us.

Steer (I think)

Scary Dorothy mannequin

Our goal for today was to buy replacement pumpkins for the two that had rotted, but we didn't feel like taking another hayride and having to search another pumpkin patch. We looked in the bins of pumpkins close to the farm store, but we didn't see any that caught our eye. So, I'll make a trip to the "pumpkin patch" at BJ's or Walmart this week so we have a pumpkin or two to carve!

We finished up our day by driving by Laney, Frank and Janelle's house to check out their Halloween decorations. They were great!

Tranquillity Farms

Every year we love to visit a local farm to see the animals and pick out the perfect pumpkins to carve for Halloween. This year we decided to try a new farm that was recommended by a friend - Tranquillity Farms. We spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Tranquillity Farms today and had a fabulous time! They have a nice farm stand with mums, a variety of apples and pumpkins, gourds, squash and some homebaked treats. Behind the stand, there were tents with some crafters selling their wares, food vendors (BBQ, cotton candy, funnel cakes) and some really nice kiddie rides which Claire loved (The girl has a serious addiction to bounce houses and jumping!)!!

We spent much of the afternoon watching Claire on the rides (An $8 investment in a wristband proved to be worth every penny!). We also made our way through a giant corn maze thanks to Daddy's keen sense of direction (If we had been alone, Claire and I would have been lost for weeks.) and took a leisurely hayride out to a giant pumpkin patch where little orange balls growing on tangled vines were scattered everywhere. They also had a few pigs, goats and calves in small pens and an area for pony rides.

We plan to share this hidden gem with friends who are looking for a fun, reasonable place to spend some family time. It was the perfect place for us to reconnect after all of Daddy's recent business trips.
P.S. After recapping our day with my husband, he informed me that today was the first time he had ever been on a hayride and the first time he had ever gone pumpkin picking!! Ever. I think the other years that we have gone to farms in the fall he has been working or traveling. We'll have to make sure this becomes a yearly family tradition so he can get some more hayriding and pumpkin picking under his belt!!