Center Grove Orchard 2014

Another year, another visit to the Center Grove Orchard in Cambridge, IA.  We never got around to visiting a pumpkin patch last year, so it was super vital we got to one this year.  We had so much fun on our last visit in 2012 that we wanted to go back, and they have added so much to make it even more amazing.  There were dozens of activities for the kids and I love how spread out everything is, other pumpkin patches that I've been to have felt so close together, like they're trying to pack as many people into a small space as possible.

 There are so many animals to pet and feed, it's usually what sways our decision and gets the kids most excited.

In addition, the corn pool is always a favorite of the kids, we usually have to drag them out of there after an hour of fun.  Something they've added is the large eating area, there are yummy sandwiches, soups, a full cafe of latte choices, and of course, the amazing apple cider.

The kids had so much fun jumping on the giant jumping pillows, and took endless turns on the huge slide.  In addition to these awesome attractions, they also have a pedal tractor race track, a hay maze perfect for little people, a giant, rope spider web, bounce horse play area, and a concert venue for weekend shows.  It's, literally, hours of fun and that's before we even got to the corn maze.

 There are a bunch of spots throughout the grounds that are perfect for photo opportunities.

The only thing that would distract Charlie from the corn pool was getting on the tractor to go to the corn maze.

Next stop on the tractor ride is the pumpkin patch.  They've been open for a month and they still had plenty of choices.  There were HUGE pumpkin, baby pumpkins, gourds, and regular sized pumpkins.  It was so much fun and it's become a wonderful family tradition to pick our own pumpkins.

On our way out we stopped and got some sweets from their shop; candy apples, pumpkin bread mix, apple pie, and honey.  It put the cherry on an already wonderful day.  I will always highly recommend the Center Grove Orchard.

For more information on the Center Grove Orchard, please visit their website here.

To view my blog post from the last time we visited the orchard, which has a lot more photos to see, please click here.

Make Your Own Pizza

This is a simple post, I just wanted to share what my daughter and I did the other day.  I thought it would be one of those fun ideas you can do when it's yucky outside.

We were having a difficult time deciding what we wanted to make for dinner.  Faith enjoys everything I make, and I know she loves to help, but a lot of the food I make involves sharp stuff, so she doesn't get to do a lot of helping.  I asked her if she wanted to make dinner, and she loved the idea.  So, we decided to pick up the Pillsbury Pizza Dough, some mozzarella cheese, pepperoni and pizza sauce.  We also used fresh tomatoes from the garden.

My daughter had a blast making the pizzas for everyone.  For her grandparents she made a pepperoni heart pizza and for her parents and brother she made a cheese heart pizza.

Here are some pictures of our fun!