Monday, October 18, 2010

The Farm at Swan Creek

With a fabulous 50% off groupon, we headed north to The Farm at Swan Creek.  This place was, by far, the best "pumpkin patch" I've visited.  We ended up spending 5 hours there with our friends, and we didn't even do everything there was to do.  I took 110 pictures; it was very hard to pick which ones to share. 


We started with the hay maze located in the barn.  We let Josh lead.  There were plenty of people in there with us, so all he had to do was follow them.  The maze leads you to the loft where they have a tall, fast, bumpy slide.  Josh chickened out, but I knew he would love it.  I picked up him, plopped him on my lap, and we slide together.  With no hands to control the slide, I was unprepared for the speed of the slide and the landing in the pile of hay.  The other parents watching had a good laugh.  It was so fun that I didn't mind.  If Scott hadn't been waiting outside with Maddie (he couldn't go down the slide with the backpack), I would told the kids, "Let's go again!"


Mika got a piggyback ride from Daddy.  She's getting tall!


We headed to the children's play area  next.  They had three slides made out of pipe of different lengths going down a little hill.  The kids said they were fun.


They also had these really neat rubber, horse-shaped swings.  They were the coolest swings, and each one was a little bit different.


They also had water pumps with angled troughs.  The idea was to float the rubber ducks down the trough so the kids on the other side can float them back with their water pumps.  The boys really enjoyed these.


Josh threw a tantrum when it was time to leave these diggers that we found in a large sand pit on a hill.  They also had various large plastic trucks and other sand toys.


There was a large covered area filled with hay bales.  The center had a thick covering of loose hay.  Lots of kids were in here jumping off the bales.  They went backwards, forwards, spinning, free falling, etc.  It was a perfect place for Josh, who really likes to jump.


Scott followed Maddie around.  This is a large grassy area with several large hay rolls for the kids to climb and walk across. 

Also in the play area was a greenhouse with an area filled with loose corn kernels for the kids to jump in.  We missed it and didn't have time to come back to it.  Other things we missed in this area were fishing (an extra cost), duck races (though we saw the ducks during a rest period), and the petting farm.




While waiting for our friends to arrive, we stopped for lunch.  They had a bakery, espresso stand, and concessions offering pulled pork sandwiches, hand-dipped corn dogs, hot dogs, chili hot dogs, kettle corn, caramel apples, cider doughnuts, and corn on the cob.


Our friends arrived while we waited in line for lunch and did the children's area while we ate.  Afterwards, we boarded the hay ride and headed for "Idaho" to start the 12 acre corn maze.  It's shaped like the state of Washington and includes tons of actual roads and landmarks.  Here we all are.  Most of the men folk headed off on their own, though Sam and Nick joined the girls because we're cooler. 


We found Kettle Falls where Mika took the 2010 Grump of the Year.  Actually, all the kids took turns at the sign.


We found the menfolk at the at the bridge at the Grand Coulee Dam.


This was the view from the top of the bridge; the maze we were in was quite large.


The Cascade tunnel symbolizing the Cascade Moutain range was fun.


We even found the state capitol.


And Galloping Gertie actually gallops in the maze, too.


After the maze, we found this selection of pumpkins that we thought would be great for taking photos of the kids, only none of my photos came out all that well.  I love this one, though.  Josh actually loves his friend; you just can't tell in this photo.


See, they are best buds in a nearby patch of sand.




We finished off the day in the putting area.  I showed Josh how to hold and swing the club at least a dozen times.


But, he chose a style all of his own.


We headed home.  Madelynn was tired.


So was Josh.


And Sam.


And Mika.

It was a full and fun day with our friends.

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1 Comments:

Rebecca K. said...

oh my gosh, these are FABULOUS pictures!!!! i love your bit by bit summary too! how cool! i think i'll do that for my blog!