Pumpkin Hunt

Yesterday we drove far into the countryside to visit an orchard and cider mill. It's one of my favorite fall traditions--to pick juicy apples from the orchards and then go on a hunt in a pumpkin patch, roaming and looking over dozens upon dozens of pumpkins until I find the one that is my definition of perfect.

It was an overcast, blustery day, and the drive to the farm was absolutely gorgeous with fall colors being at their peak right now. These vivid colors come and go so quickly, and as the trees shower down beautiful burnt reds, golden yellows, and fiery oranges, I am keenly aware that in just a few weeks, all the trees will be nearly bare.  Although, I find that colorful leaves blanketing front lawns and scattered over sidewalks is a perfectly lovely thing, too.

We arrived at Miller's Big Red farm. It was quiet {being a weekday} and after looking around, we stopped to visit the petting zoo.

I left with a few of these...

...a couple of these...

...and one of these.

I conquered "Straw Mountain!"

Then we went to catch the hayride.



We each had a bag to fill and were able to fit six large apples per bag.



As we waited in the pick-up area, two tractors brought back school kids from the orchards. They were so cute; screaming with excitement and shouting, "Look at our pumpkins!" They picked their own apples, too.

It started to drizzle lightly when we reached the apple orchards, but it didn't make the apple-picking any less fun.

Spooky.

Pretty berries.

We got picked up by the tractor, toting our bags of fresh apples and our gorgeous pumpkin:

{This picture makes it look small, but it's a big pumpkin!}

 After arriving back to the barn, we grabbed a cinnamon sugar donut to share and some hot spiced cider. The cider was incredibly delicious!

Just as we were loading our goodies into the car, it started raining heavily.  Pulling away in our car, we happily reflected on our fun little outing as we sipped our hot ciders and enjoyed more beautiful scenery, all to make us feel that this was an utterly delightful fall day.