Well, we never saw a pumpkin up close, but we had a garden full of renegade pumpkins by this point...Instead we got to ride in a real covered wagon pulled by a team of horses, play in a pile of hay bales, eat hot dogs and chips for lunch, and see a blacksmith at work, along with lots of cowboys and pioneer women in full authentic clothing and character.
It was a Saturday, and Adam had a lot of work to do, so I took the boys to Four Mile Historic Park for their annual pumpkin festival. We have these events all over the Denver area in October, but this one was my favorite so far. It was small enough to feel intimate and manageable - not large and overwhelming like Chatfield - and the infusion of living history added a fascinating layer to the festivities. The park contains Denver's oldest standing structure, a house built in 1859 that was a stagecoach stop, the last one on the trail before Denver. There are also horses and other farm animals, along with farm buildings that look really old. On the day of the festival, there were stagecoaches and covered wagons pulled by horses and driven by the cowboys and pioneer women. We had such trouble parking that we almost didn't go in, but Isaac saw the covered wagon from the road and was determined to ride on it. So we waited about 15 minutes in line and then had our chance. I was excited for it too, after a childhood of reading all the Little House on the Prairie books over and over.
Here I am with the boys on our ride.
And this is the view through the front.
And the full view of our wagon.
Afterward, we walked around the grounds a little until Isaac started saying he was hungry. Somehow it was lunch time already...So we went to the food area to take a look. There was just a grill with hot dogs and burgers. They said there were veggies burgers too, but I saw no sign of those. So we ended up with hot dogs (and a burger for Jonah), chips, and water for lunch. At times like this, I just try to relax and let us enjoy ourselves, knowing that a little junk food now and then won't hurt anyone.
We found a shady spot under a tree (this fall has been amazing, and yes, even by October we still needed afternoon shade!) and settled down to eat. There were families everywhere, a pile of hay bales behind us, and the dirt road around the park - right in front of our tree - was a track for the horse-drawn rides. There was one stagecoach driver with a single black horse who set his animal galloping every time he came around the curve. They were quite a sight, with a cloud of dust rising behind them and screams coming from the riders inside.
Jonah mostly wanted to crawl around and pick up non-food items to taste.
Isaac loved our picnic and ate every bite of his precious junky lunch...but at least he washed it down with water.
And he made sure Jonah got some too.
Jonah wants to play peekaboo all the time these days. The trick is to figure out when he's hiding and when we're supposed to say boo.
The scrape on his nose came, apparently, when Isaac accidentally dropped a wooden shelf on him. This was just the day before his awful, terrible day.
Okay mama, you're right, hay tastes yucky!
After lunch, we had a little time to play in the hay before we had to get home for naps.
Both boys love the hay.
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