With Jason home for just the weekend, we decided to do some of our fall favorite activities, like our annual pumpkin picking. On Saturday, we piled in the car, and headed toΒ Stuart’s Farm, in Westchester. Each year, we try to visit a different farm, because there are so many great options in the tri state area. Plus, I read that Stuart Farm actually offered pumpkins on the actual vine, rather than just a bunch of pumpkins, on a grassy knoll.
The kids were excited to have their “Dada” home, withΒ beautiful fall weather, it was the perfect day for the drive upstate, with all the foliage changing colors. The kids eachΒ picked out their perfect pumpkins, indulged in cider donuts, and we even picked a few more apples.
After we had our fill at the farm, we headed to an early dinner in the area, and then surprised the kids, by going to The Great Jack O’ Lantern Blaze, in the village of Croton-on-Hudson.
For years, I’ve heard about this spectacular event, but I’ve always missed the window to buy tickets, as this event sells out in seconds. The walk through experience against the backdrop of Van Cortlandt Manor is filled with over Β 7,000 individually hand-carved, illuminated jack o’ lanterns, all with different themes.
I wasn’t sure how the kids would hold up for a long day of running around the farm, followed by lots of walking around this evening even, but it turned out to be fun for the whole family.
The tour began in a graveyard, with pumpkin head scarecrows, leading up to the haunted Manor lined up with jack o’lanterns.Β Blaze’s popular Jurassic Park section, includes pumpkins carved into likenesses of dinosaurs such as triceratops, pterodactyl, brontosaurus, and a T-Rex.
Other exhibits include a Pumpkin Planetarium, Circus Train withΒ a cast of colorful clowns and awesome animals,Β gourd-filled Jack-in-the-Boxes springing up and bouncing, slithering snakes and a giant spider web. When the tour had ended, the kids wanted to go back to the beginning of the line, to do it all over again. Blaze’s Jack O’ Lanterns gave us such inspiration for our own pumpkin carving, that we started talking about ideas in the car on the way home. If you live in the area, I totally encourage you to go. They just added more tickets the week after Halloween.
I absolutely love this time of year, because there’s so much to look forward to, in the upcoming weeks and months. The kids are eager for trick or treating, having worn their costumes several times already, as we are gearing up forΒ all the fun Halloween themes partiesΒ coming up at school, and with friends. And in just two months, we will be welcoming the holidays, and so the excitement continues to build!
