From the leaves changing colors to the pumpkin patches, fall is one of our favorite times of year! We’re highlighting some of our favorite spooktacular things to do during this season.
Visit a Pumpkin Patch
While we enjoy the convenience of grabbing a pumpkin from the local store, there is something about going to a pumpkin patch and picking out your pumpkin. Tanaka Farms is one of the few real pumpkin patches in Orange County. It is a 30 acre working farm in the heart of Irvine that grows over 60 different varieties of fruits and vegetables. From visiting the barnyard animals to riding the tractor wagon and even picking fresh vegetables, there is so much fun to be had at Tanaka Farms. They have education farm tours for many schools including visits with chickens, goats, sheep and donkeys. We highly recommend the value package, which includes entry, wagon ride, U-pick vegetable patch, and barnyard visit. Your ticket also includes a pumpkin. You can take home any pumpkin from the patch, but you have to be able to carry it out!
Pizza Paired with the Pumpkin Patch
Whether you’re looking for a spot before or after the pumpkin patch or a cozy fall night in, California Pizza Kitchen has you covered. They have brought back their Jack-O-Lantern pizzas for only $5! This adorable pumpkin-shaped pizza is perfect for a scary good pizza party. They come in already baked or build-your-own and are available for dine-in, takeout or delivery. From spreading the sauce to sprinkling the cheese, our kids enjoyed making their own pizzas. We even cut the pepperoni to make a Jack-O-Lantern face.
Some of our favorites to include with the Jack-O-Lantern pizzas are the Original BBQ Chicken Pizza, Chopped Salad, and the Mini Butter Cake Flight. There are so many yummy options for our family to choose from at CPK.
Fall Recipes with Yasukochi Farms
Each October and November, we look forward to our boxes from Yasukochi Family Farms in Oceanside. They deliver boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables to your doorstep every week. Each box contains 11-15 different produce items that have been curated for you, and in October and November, you can add sugar pumpkins, which are perfect for making pumpkin pie, to your delivery. We’ve even used the sugar pumpkins to make pumpkin ice cream! Something fun we like doing when we receive the boxes is finding the one vegetable we are unfamiliar with, looking it up, and then looking for ways it can be prepared. And in the category of recipes, if you need inspiration or new dishes to throw into your current rotation, Yasukochi has a whole page dedicated to recipes.
Boo Basket Idea
While we love getting dressed up for Fall Fest or Halloween parties, taking costume makeup off can be a challenge. We love using Makeup Eraser. Makeup Eraser is a reusable cloth that removes makeup simply by adding water. Using SmartEraseTM technology, these derm-approved, premium, patented, water-activated fibers work to remove makeup, oil and dirt from your pores — plus, they’re clinically proven to remove 2.5x better than the leading national brand of makeup wipes! Plus, they come in lots of fun collaborations like Minions, Wicked and Harry Potter, which make it fun for the kids to help keep their skin clean, too and perfect for a Boo Basket.
We were given items and experiences from CPK, Makeup Eraser, Yasukochi Farms and Tanaka Farms. All of our thoughts and ideas are our own.
