A Pumpkin Perfect Saturday!

Today was by far the most beautiful day of the week.  We both had to do a little Saturday morning due-diligence, but by 2:30pm we were free and ready to explore some of Lewis County.  We decided that we should definitely go for a hike.  The weather was a perfect 60F and sunny with blue bird skies.  The Chehalis River runs through our area so we headed there for a hike.  On the way  there we ran into a pumpkin patch. Why not stop for some fun? 
We found a giant pumpkin man made out of hay bales...

A huge field full of gorgeous pumpkins... all grown right here - we couldn't believe it!  The owner said they were planted in June... and cut in early October.

There were so many fun little things for the kiddos to do. I stuck my big kiddo behind a Superman cutout.

Then he found the perfect pumpkin.

We continued on to our hiking spot - the Discovery Trail (part of Lewis County Community Trails). We also went here to celebrate our 2 year anniversary (see a pic of that glorious day here, we used it in our first post in August, even though the pic was from June). It is a gorgeous trail!   The working farm at the end of a road donated the land that cuts through their farm and leads to the river's edge. 

We were able to get right down onto the shore and do some exploring... good thing we were wearing our boots!

The trees were soooooo amazing...Made me remember a favorite poem called Trees by Joyce Kilmer... Imagine Granddaddy Love's recital version... he can tell a poem better than anyone in the world!

And there were Moo-Moos galore... especially little baby moos. Sooooo tute. Wished that Amber was there to talk to them with us!

We finished the evening with a seriously nutritious and delicious fall salad.  I found the recipe in an old Cooking Light... you can find it right here.  I was a bit worried about making it come together, but all of the ingredients tasted PERFECT.  Of course, the Chef did the chicken - it was divine!!! I have never had such delicious chicken... And all of the other ingredients really worked well together.  We shared a glass of local Syrah from Birchfield Winery.  Yum!