Preston Trail Farms Pumpkin Patch

We tried out Preston Trail Farms this week -- a farm and pumpkin patch about an hour north of Dallas.



There is no way I would have done this outing, had it not been a meet-up for the mom-photographer group I'm a part of.  The meet-up was for 4pm, which meant we were finishing up right around rush hour, dinner time, and bed time.  Despite that, we did make the trip.  And I'm glad we did.  The car ride home was not fun, but the one there was pretty easy, and the kids had a great time.



Included in our admission price was a small cup of animal feed.  Although nobody wanted to feed the animals at first, Lucy and Elliot did quickly warm up to the idea. 

And Elliot especially seemed to enjoy feeding the goats and sheep. 



Oliver was mostly terrified of the animals. 


 It took a while for him to stop clinging to my leg and actually look the animals in their faces.



Even he eventually loosened up, though.



To say Lucy and Elliot enjoyed seeing their friend would be an under statement. 



He is, it would seem, the epitome of "cool" in the kids' eyes.  Lucy and Elliot repeated everything he said, multiple times, laughing all along. 



The hay maze was impressive.  The walls must have been close to 10 feet tall, and they were thick.  It would really have stressed me out if it had been at all crowded.  I couldn't keep all 3 kids in my sight, and I couldn't hear them through the thick walls.  But it wasn't crowded -- our friends were the only other ones there.  The kids went through the maze twice and loved it.



We were all kind of pooped and thirsty by the time we ventured over to the actual pumpkin patch.  Lucy and Elliot were delighted to see the yellow pumpkin blossoms and the green, unripe pumpkins still growing on the vine.  They each got to select a pie pumpkin to bring home -- a relief for me because they had been asking daily to buy a pumpkin.



It was 97 degrees when we were there this week, and the pumpkin patch and hay ride were in full sun.  So we were all pretty hot and tired by the end.



But I think it made for fun memories, and I loved the exposure to farm animals and an actual, real pumpkin patch with pumpkins still growing on the vine.  I wish Daniel could have been with us -- maybe next year.