My "Chik's Pics" Destination of the Day on Saturday was Anoka County Farms in Ham Lake.  I took my little girl Austen to pick out her first pumpkin!  She's 12 1/2 months old and had sooooo much fun playing in the pumpkin patch.

Austen's Close Encounter...with Pumpkins!

A week or so ago, I did a story on the pumpkin crop down at Pahl's Market in Apple Valley.  It was great watching families there picking their pumpkins and having so much fun, so I decided that Austen was missing out and needed to experience pumpkin-mania for herself!  We hopped in the car and headed up to Ham Lake.

Can we Take them ALL Home?

Anoka County Farms is a farmstand with a hayride, bounce house, ponies, games, cider & donuts, and of course, PUMPKINS!  I had never been there before, but found it by looking up pumpkin patches on the Minnesota Grown website.

Here we are on the Hay Ride!

I now understand why families go to a pumpkin patch or farmstand rather than the grocery store for pumpkins.  Kids love it!  We probably spent an hour or so at Anoka County Farms, and the whole time, Austen was smiling, exploring and investigating as any 1-year-old would. 

Who Knew a Pile of Straw Could be so Fun?

As I was snapping away with my camera, I met the farmer's mother Doreen.  She told me that this season was pretty rough for pumpkins, but good weather on weekends (like the day we were there) was great for business.  From what I could tell, there were lots of happy customers - regardless of how good the crop was or wasn't this year.  Farmer Jason Peterson gave Austen her first pony ride, sort of!  I was a little hesitant to have the pony actually walk (Austen's still grasping the concept of hanging on!)...so we just let Austen sit on a pony.  It was so cute!

Farmer Jason Peterson with Austen (Her First Time on a Pony!)

Sharing moments with Austen (and trying to capture them in pictures) was priceless.  We picked out a mini-pumpkin just Austen's size that's sitting on our kitchen countertop waiting for a face!  I still haven't decided whether to attempt carving a pumpkin (it's been YEARS since I've done that!) or just grab some markers and draw on the face.  Either way, I'm sure I'll take pics of the jack-o-lantern when it's done.  Stay tuned!

You Think This is Cute?  Just Wait 'Til Austen Goes Trick-or-Treating!

We Call Them Pumpkins, but Austen Calls Them "Balls"!

As you can tell, I went camera-happy (what proud parent woudn't?)  So if you haven't seen enough, check out some more shots in this slideshow:

Thanks as always for reading my blog!
-Chikage

Want to find out more about Anoka County Farms? 

 Visit the Anoka County Farms Website

Want to find out where you can get pumpkins? 

 Visit the Minnesota Grown Website

Do you have a picture-worthy spot in the Metro you'd like me to visit?

 Send me an email

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