Pumpkin Patching
It's that time of the year- October which means it's Pumpkin patch time! Chances are you have already taken your little pumpkin to a patch but if you have not this may be your last chance to do so! This year we visited two pumpkin patches.
The first patch we visited was Bayfair Mall's pumpkin patch. This is close to where we live so we just went on one random afternoon. There are literally rows and rows of jumpy tents. This is not the cheapest place to go. Jumping is $10 for 30 minutes, and $15 for an hour. On days that it is crowded you can easily slip through to the next 30 minutes going unnoticed. But if there are not that many other families there the workers are less occupied and will come check your time. While this is a good way to spend an hour & gets your kids really tired, it is also not the most economical way to spend $30.
Instead I suggest Joan's Farm and Pumpkin Patch in Livermore. We took a visit there last weekend and really enjoyed our time together there. Instead of spending $30 for one hour the girls had a whole day of fun for just under $30. You can opt for the unlimited wristband which is $25 each or you can buy individual tickets which are $5 each. Although $5 for a ticket seems steep what you actually get for that is very reasonable. There was a inflatable obstacle course/ jumpy tent/ slide that was one ticket. The girls got to go through 5/6 times on that one ticket. We easily spent 30 mins there watching them go through the whole thing, circling back around, and going through again.
The next two tickets went to different attractions for each of the girls. My oldest daughter went on the super tall giant inflatable slide, again they let her go through probably 5/6 times. My younger daughter used her ticket to go on the cutest "train" ride I ever saw. The farm hallowed out their old water barrels and made them into cars with steering wheels while a big tractor pulled them. She got the biggest kick out of this and was laughing the whole way. Instead of the traditional 3 minute train ride that goes in a small circle, this tractor really pulled them on an extensive loop around the field for about 10 minutes or so.
The girls also got their faces painted which was about $3 each. The highlight for me may have been feeding the many farm animals: baby cow, donkeys, and lots of goats. The calf was really sweet and oh so cute! The feed for them was 25 cents each cup. So that's $30 for a whole day of fun compared to $30 for an hour of fun- big difference!
Joan's also just has nice grounds to walk on, animals to pet, pumpkins to pick, photo opts to take- it's a full day of family pumpkin fun!
Here is some additional pumpkin patch information so you can catch one wherever you are at this weekend. Click the title to be redirected to their website:
2153 Ferry Point Alameda, CA 94608
+1-510-705-2352
2720 Alpine Rd Portola Valley, CA 94028
+1-650-854-3134
12320 San Mateo Rd Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
+1-650-726-2342
1620 7th Ave San Francisco, CA 94122
+1-415-753-2689
4414 Piedmont Ave Oakland, CA 94611
+1-510-967-9363
34600 Ardenwood Blvd. Fremont, CA 94555
Farm (510) 791-0340 office
