Reynolds Farm

Have you ever been comfy cozy in your home, with no heat on mind you, so you get ready to go out on an adventure without checking the real conditions outside?  I am guilty of this nearing every day and it really gets me in trouble in fall and the spring also.  I just assume if I am comfortable inside, it should be nice enough outside.  Well, sometimes I am wrong, way wrong.  It did not help that it was a Saturday and there is no local news to tell me what is going on out there.  We do have lots of windows in the house so I can see in three directions between the living room and kitchen but apparently I never saw any signs of the wind.  We had plans with our friend Julie, Amy, and Cullen for a fall adventure at Reynolds Farm in Waynesboro.  It is about an hour from our house and we were running on lesbian time and were a half hour late!!!  The plant was down for the weekend and Lori was able to join us.  I love her schedule for Baylor but not for family time.  It is so limited unless one of us are on vacation.  And she is often off when we have plans with the McGraws which works out well. Cullen turned three in September and Baylor will be three in November. We both have chosen to not have a big party this year but wanted to celebrate together. Since we have not had a play date in a while, we decided to meet in October to celebrate together. 

So we arrive at the farm and of course have to find the loo first thing.  It was waiting out there we realized we were under dressed for the wind.  Lori and I can deal with it but Baylor was putting his hand to the back of his coat looking for a hood because his head was cold!  Poor little guy.  When I came out of the loo, Lori had found a little place to warm him up!  I miss the days when I was able to wear him in my wrap!!   

We meet up with the girls and they had a spare hat in the car.  It barely reached the bottom of he ears but it was greatly appreciated.  And super cute.  They needed the loo also and then we headed to a ride on the barrel cars.

They were an additional cost but worth it for the little guys.  The kid driving it said they were built on the farm and painted last winter or something.  We put Baylor in the John Deere but if I had given him a choice, I think he may have chosen an orange car.  Cullen was rocking his new lion hat they picked up on the way down to the farm.  The boys looked super cute! 

And then the ride started.  First they went into the corn field.  They were a row or two in so we could see them but I think they were too fascinated to even try to find us. 

Into the corn and out the other side! The took the kids on several loops through the field and brought them safely back to us. 

Then we boarded the hay wagon. Baylor had spied one with a front end loader and really wanted to ride the one it was pulling but it was not  running when we were ready to head up to the pumpkin patch.  We settled for the regular John Deere tractor and wagon and headed up to the pumpkin stop. 

It is pretty overwhelming to have to find a pumpkin in a huge field on a hill but it was gorgeous!  Other than being cool and windy, the sun was out and we warmed up.  We looked for huge pumpkins and found them.  Because of all the rain, there were some many we turned over to check only to see they were rotten on the bottom.  Amy found a mouse in one of them!  I wonder if it was making a little home like in the movies.  Baylor found the round pumpkin.  He had his first pumpkin patch experience when he was 11 months old.  Looking back at this old photos makes me cry every time! 

Two years later, he has hair and is taller but still has that beautiful smile. 

The girls and Cullen also found their pumpkins and we headed back to the pumpkin stop with our prizes.  Large pumpkins are quite heavy and I am glad we had help from the driver to get them on the wagon.  Men are good for two things and one is heavy lifting and while I usually can manage that by myself, it was nice having that help.   

The first thing we did when we got off the hay ride,  was find a wagon.  The tall pumpkin behind Cullen is ours and it ended up weighing more than Baylor!!!  At $.47 a lb it was also expensive. 

We missed the height chart at the Apple Festival so I am glad we found this one.  We have one at the apple orchard too.  I wonder why it is places we go to in the fall have these? Maybe we don't go anywhere in the spring?

We walked by the strawhorse but I did not put Baylor on it.  He spied it but was too far ahead of it and nearing his limit so we did not turn around for a photo shoot. 

See our family of pumpkins?  I cannot wait to carve them. 

After we put our pumpkins in the car, we headed to the play area.  Baylor wanted to feed the goats and they had a pretty neat system to feed them.  The feed goes in a cup on the belt.  The steering wheel moves the belt and the belt moves up to a platform. 

They had a huge tube slide and Baylor went down it once.  See the pink girl coming down backwards with her feet on Baylor's head?  Yes, that was the last time he went down that slide.  He stood up crying for Mommy and wanting a cuddle.  They also have a side by side racing slide and we went down that twice holding hands. 

Baylor really liked the hay area.  It was U shape with loose hay in the middle.  Baylor liked running on the hay bales and it was hard to get him off of them. 

See that smile?  He was loving his hay.

We got him away from it to go through the grass maze.  It was pretty cool other than the tassels whacking us in the face all the time.   We managed a loop and headed out towards the voices. 

Baylor showed Cullen how to feed the goats.

And then he found the sand box.  It was not easy getting him away from here but it was time to leave.  We were seeing signs of the upcoming meltdown and we still had to go to lunch with the McGraws.  He dug a few holes and was OK with the promise to jump in the hay.

This time he was brave and wanted to jump off the hay into the middle.  The first two times I held his hand but then...

He did it by himself!  And was very happy.

We went to Waynesburger for lunch and it was awesome.  It is owned by Greeks and they always have awesome restaurants in my experience!  I think both boys were asleep in minutes on the way home. I love fall adventures!