Riding the Pumpkin Train

Yes, there really is a train called the "Pumpkin Train", and we did indeed take the trip.  The ride starts in Osceola, WI and travels through some pretty country to Dresser, WI, where the depot has a pumpkin patch as well as games for the kids, etc.  My friend Ann talked me into it, on a day when the kids were off school for conferences.

Everyone had a really great time!

The whole crew, waiting to board the train

All of us, squished onto one seat on the way to the pumpkin patch.  The conductor came by and punched our tickets, just like an old-time train ride.

Sarah wasn't too keen on going inside the "haunted" depot.  Madi, on the other hand, thought it was a blast, and ran through several times (it wasn't very big).

Madi's height gave her a decided advantage in the hay maze...

Madi and I had lots of fun pumping the hand cart up the tracks.  Got a nice history lesson from our guide, too!

Madi was in heaven meeting the sled dog team.  Sarah insisted on finding out the names of each dog.

One of Sarah's favorite activities was the coloring station.  She didn't really want anything to do with face painting...

Madilyn, on the other hand, became a cat to match her shirt.

Included in the price of the ticket was a free pumpkin.  I invoked the "you need to be able to pick it up and carry it yourself" rule, but still ended up lugging two pumpkins back onto the train.  At least it was the final thing we did before leaving for the ride home.

Ann and I on the return ride, with our matching face-painted spiders.  It was all fun, but the police officer and the other drivers looked at me pretty strangely when I was involved in a fender-bender on the way home!  (Max was not seriously injured, but the Bonneville that caused the accident was totalled - but that's another story!)