Pumpkin Picking At Kenyon Hall Farm

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We did our first ever Pumpkin pick a few years ago and at first we had no idea which pumpkin patch to choose as there are quite a few local to us, however we heard lots of good recommendations for Kenyon Hall Farm so we chose to visit there. We loved it and chose to go again this year too.

What To Expect At Kenyon Hall Farm, Warrington WA3 7ED

Kenyon Hall Farm has been growing pumpkins for over 30 years and has become one of the most popular and biggest pumpkin patches in England. 

As well as the Pumpkin Patch you can also enjoy a bite to eat or drink at the cafe, visit the shop or let the little ones explore the play area.

Pumpkin picking begins on the 1st of October and lasts right through till Halloween. (31st October).

Pumpkins can last up to 3-4 when un-carved so you can visit earlier on in the month however there is no guarantees it will last till Halloween. The only bonus about visiting early is the Pumpkin Patches will look prettier earlier on as they can become very muddy. 

If you don't manage to find a pumpkin in the patch you can head indoors where you will find lots of pumpkins to choose from which have already been picked and put on display.

Pre Booking your ticket is essential when visiting Kenyon Hall Farm. 

Tickets cost £2 each for adults and children. Children under 18months go free.

The play area is free to enjoy and was fully revamped in 2019. 

If you would like to visit the cafe, no booking is required. Turn up and order your food and collect from the hatch. There are picnic benches around the farm however indoor seating options will be reviewed during the colder months. 

Kenyon Hall Farm is open every day 9-5pm.

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Michelle

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Our Sainsbury's Halloween Goodies

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What do you get if you pop into Sainsbury’s for bread and milk with a 4 year old? A trolley full of Halloween goodies!! Last week was the first time I have seen little J be so excited for Halloween. As we walked through the door of our local Sainsbury’s we were stopped in our tracks by a huge display of Halloween decorations. Little J instantly ran over and started pressing try me buttons on light up lanterns and dancing pumpkins. At one point he had three dancing characters on the floor watching them as they spun around. I do usually buy one or two new decorations each year to add to our collection so I had a silly idea of asking little J to choose two new items . . . he wanted everything. 

We always have a Halloween house party each year but as big J is too old now and little J wasn't old enough we haven't had one for a few years, just a little tea party for the 4 of us. However this year I am looking forward to hosting a Halloween party for some friends. 

Whilst little J was playing with the Halloween toys I popped in the trolley some partyware. I know that we will have tons in the loft as I buy lots of it every year and never end up using it all but I had to buy a new table cloth, plates, cups and napkins. There were 3 variations but I went for the ghosts design They say Woo and Boo and the tablecloth has lots of eyes on it and is wipe clean. They were priced at £2.50 each for packs of 10 for the cups and plates, napkins are a pack of 20 and the tablecloth is single and cost £3.50. I also bought Halloween crackers which are cute and cost £4 for 8.

Little J wanted to get some spiders and spider webs which I think are great fun and look so realistic. We have had some similar before and they are very creepy but the web gets everywhere. It comes in a ball with the plastic spiders attached and the idea is you pull the web and the more you pull the more it looks like spooky cobwebs. We always put it over the lights, around the fireplace and up the stairs. These were great value for money and priced at £3 including lots of web and 6 spiders,

Sticking with spiders I bought some door decorations. They hang over your door frame and have glittery webs and hanging spiders. These were priced at £6 each so I bought two as we have two main doors downstairs however now thinking about it I should have bought 4 as I am guessing they will only cover one side of the door. 

This was my favourite buy and I just fell in love with them when I saw them. Halloween Ghost Bottle String Lights, They are sound activated however there is a try me on them and once I pressed them I knew I had to buy them They play the Alton Towers music. For those that know us will know we are huge fans of Alton Towers so this was a must buy. They were priced at £12 for 10 lights. 

Last but not least little J decided to choose a dancing pumpkin which when pressed spins round and dances to The Monster Mash song. There were others to choose from, including a witch and a skeleton. It was priced at £12 and is really cute. 

So that is just a few of our new additions to our Halloween decorations this year. We still haven't been to Costco yet which we usually do every year and will normally find something to buy so watch this space. 

Have you bought any decorations for Halloween yet?

Michelle 

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Our Top Five Netflix Halloween Movies #StreamTeam

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 We love Halloween and for us Halloween is the beginning of the countdown to Christmas. We have started getting in to the Halloween spirit by browsing through Netflix for some movies to watch. I don't like being scared so adult horrors are not for me so we have chosen our top five Family Halloween Picks on Netflix.

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Halloween - Don't Get Tricked By Treats

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Halloween in almost here and just like the kids I am really excited. I love Halloween and for us it's the start of the countdown to Christmas, Halloween, then Bonfire Night and then before you know it Christmas is here. Although Halloween is lots of fun with chocolate and sweets you will have to make sure your little ones don't get tricked by treats

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Bedtime Stories Perfect For Halloween

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Disclosure - We were sent the products below for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our unless stated. This post contains affiliate links. 

Do you have a collection of seasonal books for the kids? We have lots of books and I try to keep collections together so that I can get them out depending on the season. As Autumn is here it's time to dust off our Halloween books and start reading them before bed.

We have two favourite books at the moment Boo and Ten Spooky Skeletons

Boo is a fun novelty rhyming story all about finding out who is saying Boo. Each page has a different character on, Pumpkins, Wizards and little witches and each page says the same. for example "Spider, Spider was that you? Were you the one who shouted Boo?" Then there is a picture of the spider saying "it wasn't me" Little J loves this and as each page turns there are holes were the eyes should be so when I am just about to read out Boo I look through the holes and shout Boo. He finds it so funny. We love Little Tiger Press books and I can't wait to dig out some of big J's old books because I know we have lots similar to Boo that little J will love.

The next bedtime story is Ten Spooky Skeletons. Similar to Boo there are peek through holes on each page as one lonely skeleton goes on a search to find more skeleton friends. I always pop my fingers through the little holes which little J finds very amusing. A lovely story and a great way to talk about numbers and counting as each page starts with the number of Skeletons and a new skeleton is added every time. One, Two and so on. There is a lovely glow in the dark finale too.

I'm sure little J's favourites will swap and change all the time because I remember big J having a new favourite every night. I think reading to our children is so special and a lovely way to spend those last few moments of the day together before sleep time.

Do you read to your little one? What is their favourite story?

Michelle

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Spooky Ghost Cake Pops Recipe

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Disclosure - We went sent ingredients to try out this recipe. Any thoughts and opinions are our own. 

We love baking and we recently tried this fun recipe to make Spooky Ghost Cake Pops. They are perfect for Halloween or a rainy day activity to do with the kids. 

SPOOKY GHOST CAKE POPS

Preparation time: 2 hours plus cooling and chilling

Cooking time: 40 minutes plus 10 minutes to melt 2 lots of chocolate

​Ingredients

For the cake balls

120g Cocoa Extra Dark Fine Cooks Chocolate

150g soft unsalted butter at room temp

200g Light Muscovado Sugar

3 medium free range eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp Madagascan Vanilla extract

125g Organic Plain White Flour

For the cake pops:

2 X 100g bags White Chocolate Chips melted for sticking the balls onto the sticks & coating the cake pops

Teaspoon of vegetable oil

To decorate the ghosts:

1 x  pack of Dr. Oetker White Regal Ice

Icing sugar for rolling out

Dr. Oetker White Designer Icing for sticking the regal ice to the cake pops

Dr. Oetker Jet Black Gel Food Colour.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 140°C (275°F, gas mark 1). Grease and line an 18cm (7 inch) square cake tin.

To make the fudge brownie mix melt the extra dark chocolate in a microwave on medium power for 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time until melted,  or in a heat proof bowl on a gentle heat over a bain marie. Leave to cool.

Beat the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric hand beater for approx. 2 minutes until pale and fluffy. If you haven’t got an electric mixer you can do this with a wooden spoon in a bowl .

TIP: if you are in a rush or the butter is quite cold, the addition of a couple of tablespoons of boiling water at this stage, beaten on slow until mixed will speed up this process.

Add your eggs on a slow speed about a third at a time, mixing until combined.

Add your cooled chocolate stirring continuously.  Add the vanilla Extract and stir. On slow speed mix in the flour until just combined. Do not over beat. Alternatively fold in by hand.

Pour the mix into your cake tin and bake for approx 40 mins. Check it with a sharp knife or metal skewer. You want this to be slightly under baked, so the knife should come out pasty, with a nice paste on the knife.

Leave to cool, then turn out into a bowl and crumble with your hands to fine fudgy crumb.

To make the cake balls, take a handful of fudge cake mix and squeeze together tightly - you are aiming for little balls about the size of a large walnut, approx. 30g each. If the mixture is dry, the addition of a little chocolate or vanilla butter cream will help the mixture stick

Once you have all of your balls ready, dip the end of your stick into the melted chocolate chips  and push the stick into each ball, about half way in. Hold the ball to stop it splitting open when the stick goes in

Once all the cake pops are ready, refrigerate them for 1-2 hours before dipping them, or pop into the freezer for 30 mins, so the balls are firm enough to hold when dipping in the coating

To coat the cake pops melt Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks White Chocolate on low power in a microwave bowl until just melted -  stirring occasionally.

Plunge each cake pop into the chocolate coating until completely covered. Tap the cake pop gently on the side of the bowl to shake off the excess. Once all are covered, dip each cake pop again

To decorate the ghosts roll out half the white regal icing into a large rectangle using plenty of icing sugar and a large plastic rolling pin. Roll fairly thinly – 2 to 3mm thick. Squeeze a little Dr. Oetker White Designer Icing onto the tops of the cake pops or brush with some melted white chocolate, to aid sticking of the sugar paste

Using a cake cutter or small bowl, cut out circles of regal icing and place on each of the pops, smoothing down with your fingers to create the white sheet effect. Allow a little wavy movement by using your fingers to create smooth.

Give them a try and we would love to see your creations. Tag us on socials @PlaydaysRunways.

I am always so grateful for any support I receive on my blog and social channels. If you did find this post useful there are a few ways that you could say thanks and support Playdays and Runways.

Leave us a comment below and let us know what you thought. 

Like us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Buy Us A Virtual Coffee

Share This Post With Friends Who May Also Find It Useful. 

Michelle

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