Tolay Fall Festival

At the end of October, we took Tanyon to the Tolay Fall Festival in Petaluma.  It was his first trip to a pumpkin patch.  It was also special, because we were joined by Tanyon's good friends Maya and Violet. It was fun to see what it was like to have several kids in tow.  They were all very sweet as they held hands in a line to get from place to place. 

After checking in with our friend Christina, who runs the festival, our first stop was the petting zoo area.  They had miniature donkeys and goats for the kids to interact with. Tanyon, being the timid guy he is at first, was more interested in looking at the animals than petting them. We were surprised that he got a few quick pets in with the first donkey he saw, but other than that, Tanyon remained a spectator.

Tolay Regional Park is an amazing property that has a huge chicken coop. Tanyon enjoyed watching the chickens and "bocking" at them.  There was even a large turkey, who was a little nervous, so he spread his feathers out for us.  It was an impressive display.

After the animals, we headed to the Native American village. Here Tanyon is posing in one of their houses (after much coaxing).

Near one of the houses, we found a caterpillar. Maya bravely put the caterpillar on her arm, while Tanyon was once again content to watch. The kids were fascinated by this creature and watched it move around for quite awhile. Then, the horror happened...the kids were done looking at the caterpillar, so Paul put it on the ground.  Within seconds, Tanyon lifted his boot and stepped on it. We were horrified! What could have possessed him to step on this creature after we had all been so gentle with it? As parents, we were stunned for a minute and didn't quite know how to approach the situation. The other kids were upset and Tanyon didn't quite understand the repercussions of his actions. Paul quickly scooped up the caterpillar and "found him a new home." And I pulled Tanyon aside and talked to him about not stepping on bugs and other creatures. Then, we swiftly moved on to the next area before the other kids could ask too much more about the fate of the caterpillar.

Next, we went to the crafting area.  Tanyon and Maya made corn husk dolls.  The lady helping them offered to make Tanyon's into a boy, but he said he wanted a girl doll. Both Violet and Tanyon did not want to get hair for their dolls from the ladies carting wool, so they happily toted around bald corn husk girls for the day.

After checking out the baby chicks, we decided to take a snack break on the lawn.  The children looked like depleted batteries in desperate need of more energy.  

Tanyon has recently learned how to tickle and thinks it is quite cute.  Luckily, so did Violet...

After a few cheese sticks, apples, and cups of water, they were ready for the "pony races..."

 Part way through the race, Tanyon tried to take off with the horse, but Paul reigned him in.

Next, we visited the old owl barn, where they had set up a large reptile area. We saw tons of snakes, lizards, giant tortoises, and more.  They also had a tide pool set up where Maya held some of the star fish. Tanyon thought the tortoises, owls from bird rescue and scorpions under the black light were cool.

Next, the kids took a minute to play in the hay maze and climb the hay pyramid. 

By this time, everyone was getting quite tired, but we couldn't leave without a hay ride to the pumpkin patch. Here is Becca with Violet and Maya:

The only pumpkins left were fairly large ones, but the kids seemed content just to walk through them and check them out.  So, we luckily did not have any battles about not bringing one home.  Tanyon even let us know that he already had one at his house, so we were good.  I love this kid!

Overall, it was a very fun day.  I am glad we took the time out to experience it together as a family and with such great friends.