Whoever said Sunday mornings were easy clearly didn’t have a toddler at the time. Luna is going through such an exciting stage at the moment. She sees the world through wanderlust; everything needs to be explored, seen, tasted, touched. And so, most of our weekends are spend in the great outdoors being active and seeking out adventure.
Today our adventure took us to Kenyon Hall Farm in Warrington, Cheshire – about 30 minutes outside of Manchester.
It’s not the first time we’ve visited the farm. We actually went pumpkin picking there last year, and strawberry picking this summer, but Luna is finally starting to understand the world around her so felt this time would be different. Hosted at this time of year is their their annual pumpin festival where stories are told, face painting is offered, carving lessons taught and of course, pumpkins to be picked and bought!
We started off in the ‘greenhouse’ where pre-picked pumpkins were on display – LOTS of them. In all different shapes, sizes and shades of orange. The children’s activities made it a super cute area with hidden spooky decorations such as peering eyes through the bushes, and skeletons in the soil.
If you’re into Halloween, then you’re going to love this place in October, no matter what your age.
I’d like to say that the kids loved it the most, but truth be told I think I was the one most excited to see all the ghoulish festiveness HA! Such a groupie for Autumn…
After a good explore, we decided it was time to brave the weather. That’s right. I bet most of the images of pumpkin picking you’ve seen online involve a beautiful maize field in the sunshine, right? Well, it absolutely heaved it down with rain for us. I did have a pumpkin fancy dress outfit for Luna (because I’m THAT mum – no shame) but it was just too wet. Dang it! That wasn’t going to stop us though. Wellies and waterproofs at the ready!
We squelched our way into the pumpkin field and Luna found herself a very round, perfectly-sized but slippery pumpkin. She actually found it quite overwhelming seeing them all lay there on the ground, but it was fun to hunt.
We eventually dried off with a play on the farm’s park, a chat with the pigs, and a coffee and cake in their cafe.
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Yes that’s a witch’s hat made of icing on my cupcake and yes Luna’s wellies change colour when they get wet. Awesome right?
These 3 pumpkins above are the chosen ones. We picked a daddy one, a mummy one and a baby one, stuffed them in a crate, added a pumpkin carving kit and headed for the till.
(Add to that list a full chicken – the farm shop at Kenyon Hall is SO good)
They just need a good cleaning and then it’s time to decorate. I just need to think of something cool to carve now! (Suggestions in the comments please) I’ve also done a bit of a Halloween haul over the past few weeks so I’ll probably blog the lot this week if it’s something you’d like to see?
It was a lovely day out despite the weather and I’m pleased we’ve done it two years in a row now. I’m hoping it will be an ongoing tradition. I know you can buy pumpkins at the supermarket and some years that’s what we’ve done, but there’s nothing quite like making a day of it and getting some family pics. If you’re near Manchester, it’s a great farm for the ‘pick your own’ experience, with or without kids. Happy pumpkin picking everyone!
