It was by sheer chance that my aunt stumbled upon an ad for a pumpkin patch at "The Girls", located near their home.
"The Girls" is a storefront, positioned in a strip mall, several doors down from "The Boys."
The Boys boasts itself to be a wonderful farmer's market, while The Girls is a charming shop featuring homemade ice cream, an old-fashioned soda fountain, and tons of cute gifts, including jams, jellies, candies and all kinds of things you might find at a country store.
However, should you happen to walk through the shop and out the back door, you'll find yourself in a really cool place.
The entire back of the strip mall is devoted to rescued birds, hydroponic gardening and charming scenery. You can pick strawberries, explore a fire truck, or search for the albino peacock.
Completely unexpected.
Turtle was not in a fabulous mood that day. It was closing in on naptime, and for some reason, the caged birds frightened him with their shrieks (macaws and cockatoos are not known for their indoor voices).
He was ok with these giant tortoises (the larger one's shell was easily three feet long).
And he was more than thrilled checking out this replica fire truck.
He also thought this old tractor was cool.
There were bunnies hopping around the entire area. Unfortunately, there were also some unruly children (not mine), chasing said bunnies, who took cover under a structure.
Turtle brought them some lettuce, which was readily available in big tubs around the property. Which I thought was darn awesome.
At about this point, cooperation went out the window so we thought we might wander through the shop for a moment.
Turtle spotted a lollipop that he asked for, and I let him have it, because he was trying so hard to hang in there, but his routine was all blown out of the water.
Nothing makes this child happier than a lollipop.
Unless it's candy corn. Or Toy Story.
But I digress.
I figured we had our chance, and herded him back into the pumpkin patch.
Suddenly? Those cawing birds weren't so intimidating.
We'll definitely come back to pick strawberries.
And we'll probably have to get him his own little chair like this.
Check out the size of that pumpkin!
Which was still smaller than THIS pumpkin! (Seriously. These were some giant gourds).
Happy Pumpkin Picking!
I would have loved to have a chance to see some of the produce at The Boys, but there's always next time.
Also next time? We'll have to try one of The Girls' famous root beer floats at the soda fountain counter. I would have loved to share pictures of it, but it was crowded and I didn't want to push Turtle too hard.
Read more...
