Verde Valley Fall Festival

We were so lucky to have our cousins back to visit this fall! We’ve made it a tradition to partake in some fall activities while they are here. This year, they couldn’t be here for Halloween, but we decided to find a new pumpkin patch to explore. Last year we went to Schnepf Farms, and honestly, that is still my favorite; however, we decided to try the first annual harvest festival at Jackpot Ranch in Verde Valley. The biggest reason we made the switch was because the weather was just about 10 degrees cooler. Good enough reason for me. J

Since it was their first annual year, I think they were still figuring things out because we were pretty shocked at how expensive things were. But we had fun, and made great use of our tickets nonetheless.

We were so very excited that Olivia and Owen could come with us this year, too! We spent some time jumping in all the jump houses and slides.

Each of the kids got to pick out a pumpkin. Chris and I wanted Mac and Ethan to each pick one for us since we knew they wouldn’t really want to bring them home on the plane. Out only pumpkin-picking rule was: “If you pick it, you have to carry it.” Chris let Madelyn off the hook a bit since he helped her pick it. I think Owen just about exceeded his capacity for carrying it, but gosh darn it, he was determined to get that pumpkin. Too cute!

Auntie Kim took these pictures, which I think are hilarious. While Owen spent some time with Madelyn in one of the jump houses, Mac, Olivia, and Ethan stood and watched one of the vendors make cotton candy. They did this for a long time.

The funny part is that they stood there so long that the lady actually felt bad for them and gave each one a taste. Sucker.

J

I am fairly certain that Madelyn's favorite part was getting her face painted. This has become an obsession ever since Legoland. Fortunately, we are well aware of this, and used it as a bribe all day. Double bonus: a well-behaved child for the better part of the day, and a face painted for a small amount of time. J

All day Ethan had been begging to ride the mechanical bull. We kept telling him if we had enough tickets at the end of the day he could do it. Well, as the day was drawing to an end, we decided he did indeed have enough tickets leftover, so he could give it a go. Come to find out, as part of his and Madelyn’s wrist bracelet, he had unlimited riding on the bull. Oops. Sorry about that, Ethan. He was a good sport about it though, and certainly got many, many rides in before we left the festival.

It was definitely a fun day!