Another fun fall weekend

This past Saturday Joe had to go in to the office to do some work and interview potential assistants. I had bought a season pass to a local pumpkin patch and opted to take the kids to check it out. So we headed to Carolyn's Country Cousins to check out what fun things they had to offer. 

We headed first for the corn digging silo, where the kids had a blast filling buckets with loose corn kernels and dumping them out. I managed to convince them there was a lot more to see and do, so we headed to the animal barn. 

They had lots of goats, sheep, pigs, donkeys, chickens and bunnies. Maddie wanted to pet them all but got pretty upset when she stuck her fingers into the chicken coop and one pecked at her. The bunnies helped calm her down though and she only wanted to feed them. A girl after my own heart! 

The pumpkin patch has lots to do, including pedal carts, a handful of different playgrounds, the animals to see and feed, a small maze and these cute roping steers. Joseph had lots of fun trying to toss his hoop into the steer, and after a few tries was successful!

From there we headed over to watch the pig races. Joseph volunteered to help, so he got to ring a cow bell and run with a few other boys from the starting line to the finish, trying to encourage the pigs to keep running. He did great and being a part of the show made it a lot more fun for him. 

We then headed over to take a ride on the train. The kids were getting tired so we decided not to go out into the pumpkin patch for this trip. Instead, we went into the railroad shop and enjoyed some samples of fudge. Well, Joseph tried it and didn't like it, while Maddie about flipped out, demanding more and more. So we bought a small square to share on the way back home. 

We had fun but look forward to being able to take Joe with us next time!

On Sunday we were planning on meeting some friends at the Renaissance Festival in Bonner Springs. I hadn't ever been and Joe hadn't been in years, so we weren't too sure what to expect. Tickets for Joe and me were rather expensive at $18 per person, considering you still had to pay for the activities inside! 

We didn't realize this, though, when the kids saw this giant swing and asked to ride. Seeing no fee sign, we said sure. They loved it!

As the boy working the swing help them off, he told us it was just $2. Hmm, ok I guess but it put us on notice that we needed to plan to spend more and more to do things!

We wandered around a bit, then came across and animal "carousel," complete with donkeys, mules and even llamas! 

A few minutes later we were $8 poorer, but the kids had fun. We were trying to find our way to the kids' area, but stopped when some royalty put on a musical show. The kids really liked it and didn't want to leave, so we stayed for the whole show. 

Eventually we found the kids' area, which had some built in playgrounds and activities, including a free wand making stand. Hooray for something free!

After Joseph made his wand, he went to the wizard who was checking wands to see if they were magic. Luckily for Joseph, his was magic!

He was pretty excited, even though the wizard made sure to tell him he couldn't use his magic wand to turn anyone into a frog or his wand would lose its magic. So far, no frogs!

From there a storyteller was starting an interactive puppet show, and Joseph wanted to be a part of it. He got to play the jester. 

Not wanting to be left out, Maddie headed up to the stage too. 

We then caught a pirate show, and tried to see some mermaids but they were out for a swim. Instead we grabbed some food, watched a bit of the renaissance parade (including a fire breathing man, which Joseph found amazing) and said goodbye to our friends. Maddie quickly fell asleep in the car, and both kids took long naps that day. 

It was definitely a fun weekend, capped off by a Mizzou win against South Carolina, and the Royals making it to the post-season for the first time in 29 years!