Howell’s Pumpkin Patch

I have a confession: I was totally obsessed with the idea of bringing the baby to a nice pumpkin patch and taking some memorable family photos for her first fall. I’m completely unfamiliar with the Des Moines and surrounding areas so picking a pumpkin patch that we’d enjoy felt like shooting in the dark. Howell’s was a great choice that went above and beyond my expectations.
For starters, getting there is a piece of cake. Parking is free and was situated on a grassy field. We felt that the terrain was a little unforgiving to our little Britax stroller. When we reached the gravel paved walkway leading to the pumpkin patch, we just decided to turn around and ditch the stroller in the car. It probably would’ve been easier to pop the baby in the Ergo in hindsight.
We didn’t have to pay to actually explore the grounds. There is a fenced off area that has a ton of activities and that’s what you’re paying admission price for. Maybe this is common knowledge for residents? I had no clue and was imagining that we’d have to fork over $ 8 to take pictures with pumpkins. The fenced off activities looked like a ton of fun but we opted to pass on it since the baby’s too young. We decided to just stick to walking around and sightseeing. The grounds were quite beautiful when we went and the photos we took were lovely!
Other noteworthy things: The cob cannon was awesome. You fork over a $ 1 (or was it $ 2?) and shoot corncobs at a plastic pumpkin target fastened on top of a silo. Guess who hit the target?! I demanded that my boyfriend call me the cob cannon king for the rest of the day. He simply rolled his eyes and ignored me. Jealousy at its finest, but I digress. the ice cream was delicious too.