Coconut Grove Pumpkin Patch Festival!

Last year, I was absolutely honored when I received an invitation to the Coconut Grove Pumpkin Patch Festival.  Although the South Florida heat was unforgiving, we had a fabulous time among the pumpkins and took tons of cute pictures.  When the invite landed in my mailbox this year, I was thrilled, but quickly realized that it fell right around my due date.  We would not be able to go.  Lucky for me, my good friend Amanda was able to take my place.  A very special thank you to Amanda and her family for covering this amazing event!  I can’t wait to bring my kids next year!   Take it away Amanda…For the second year in a row we headed to the Coconut Grove Pumpkin Patch.  While our kids had a great time last year, we were excited to see what changes had been made this year to better the event.  Here they are in top order:

1. Unlimited Rides: The biggest change from last year is that the entry tickets included unlimited children’s carnival rides for children, and also included the children’s corn maze, and “hayrides:…The rides, and the toddler bounce house, kept my kids busy all morning!  There were about 6 or 7 children’s carnival rides, plenty for my four year old and my almost 2 year old could ride most of them too!
2. Alcohol: I know that this is a family event, but its a whole lot easier to get your husband motivated to join us at a Carnival in the hot Florida sun, on a college football Saturday, when you promise him there will be ice cold beer.  Shipyard Brewing Co., had a host of beers on tap, plus root beer for the little guys.
3. Tenting: A huge problem last year was the lack of tents/shade.  This year, they added a tent in the stage area, and over the pumpkin decorating area (which was an additional cost).  But if you are in need of a seat in the shade, head over and have your kids decorate a pumpkin .  I still would have liked to see the pumpkin patch tented, but maybe that will be next year.

There were plenty of places set up for cute fall and Halloween photo ops.  There was also food, beverage, and snacks available in a little food court area.  And it seemed like there were going to be performances on the stage.

I’d say that this year was much improved from last year, but there is still some room for improvement.  The Pumpkin Patch is open from 10am to 6pm.  I’d like to see the hours extended next year, even until 8pm.

To learn more about the Coconut Grove Pumpkin Patch Festival, make sure to check out their website!

Disclosure: I was provided a family 4 pack of tickets to attend this event; however, there was never any request or obligation to post about it…I just love to pass on information about fabulous local events!