Although Willa Kate went with Kasey to a pumpkin patch and Harper's school did a pumpkin patch (really they just put a hundred pie pumpkins in the field by the playground and let them pick one), it has been a bit of a tradition for us to go as a family, so last Saturday morning, we packed up and went to Jeter Farm to enjoy the sunshine.
In the last four years that we've been in Roanoke (and Harper's been alive), we have gone to both Layman Family Farm and Jeter Farm. The first two years we went to Layman, because it was where most people recommended, and honestly, it's nicer. It has an amazing corn maze, fast slides, and the scenery is gorgeous. (It is where Kasey took Willa on her field trip.) But, we tried out Jeter Farm last year with Chris and Tabatha, and for the ages of our kids now, it won out for the following reasons-- it's cheaper, closer, smaller, and has the main things that our young kiddos like to do. And after our corn maze experience last year (think Sam carrying three kids in the heat while running into dead end after dead end), we weren't concerned about ever doing one again. ;)
The weather was absolute perfection, even at 10:00 in the morning. As you come into the farm, they have a bunch of pumpkins and a company store type set up, and the girlies loved climbing all over the "pumpkin mountain." Of course, my little brutes had to try to find the biggest ones and try to carry them around.
Though Willa is timid around a lot of new experiences, she loved getting to pet the goats and sheep. No one is surprised that Harper love it, too. They have a pen for the smaller animals, and the kids just get to walk on in and play with them (bonus point over Layman's where you can only feed through the fences). They also have bunnies and chickens, but those do stay in their cages.
We took a hayride over to the pumpkin patch, slide, and train area. The smaller corn maze that Jeter Farm offers is over there, too, but we were happy to just let everyone else off there, and we kept on going to the next stop. :) The slides at Jeter are perfect for preschoolers because they don't go very fast. Sam took Harper up to the top and stood with her before she went down the first time, and then after that she was set. About a million times later, she came over and asked if I could go down it with her. Though I was legitimately concerned about coming to a complete stop on the slide and having to climb over hay bales to walk back down the hill, I decided if it meant that much to her, I'd give it a try. Thankfully, I didn't get stuck, but I did almost plow a kid at the bottom who refused to get up at the end. Whoops! Eventually, Wills worked up enough bravery to go down the slide with "tissy." How cute are they holding hands on their way down? Once was enough for her. We asked if she wanted to do it again, and she promptly answered "no."
Willa was more interested in showing everyone her "belly butt."
Harper loved climbing up the haybales to be "Queen of the Mountain." She saw some older kids doing it, and wanted to try. Sam told her she could, but that she hadn't to do it herself, that he wasn't going to lift her up there. Sure enough, with some direction and encouragement from Dad, she made her way up. Although her 'dismount' sure made mama nervous...
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| "Isn't this fun, sissy?" |
Speaking of newly (and probably short-lived) brave Willa, she rode the train by herself again! Another preschool bonus point of Jeter is that their train is very slow compared to the one at Layman's, which is a win for most kids under 5. They had fun waving at us from their little cars.
Waiting for their turn on the train.
We look forward to seeing you next year, Jeter Farm!
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