Central Counties - Downey's Farms, Brampton, ON

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Yesterday, the sun was shining as we set off for a morning of fun at Downey's Farms for Pumpkinfest, just one of the fabulous packages featured on CentralCounties.ca. It really is the perfect place to take your family since it is so close to the city. It took us about a half an hour to get there from Highway 401 and the DVP and we arrived just after it opened, at around 9:00 am. It was the perfect time since we were pretty much the only ones drooling over the delicious goodies they were preparing at the Market. Their pumpkin donuts are dee-lish! I also brought home a half a pound of their scrum-diddli-umptious chocolate mint fudge. It is sooo good! I also couldn't resist grabbing a nice hot cup of coffee before we lined up at the gate for Pumpkinfest.

First, we stopped off to watch an automated performance of Ghostbusters by the Bare Bones Band. It was hard to decipher my kids' reactions. I don't think they have seen anything like it before. It reminded me of Les squelettes from the old 1980's TVOntario production Téléfrançais. My son quickly made a bee-line towards the beautifully-crafted wooden train and took his position as the engineer. Following this, we got to play with a water game that consisted of pushing a rubber duck along a half-pipe by pumping water a manual pump. Great for strength building! I then continued with some cardio as I chased my kids around a variety of neat play structures. Some seemed safer than others and with the dew keeping things damp, close supervision was a must. We skipped the partially flooded trike track when we discovered that the Cozy Coupes weren't made for rugged terrain.

Next, we headed over to see the goats in their really cool hangout. They could walk up these planks called the "goatwalk" and arrive at a high platform where guests can send up food using a pulley system. It was really neat to watch! Nearby, there was the puppet show but we didn't stay long since they were having some technical difficulties with the audio. The loud bursts scared my son but his cries turned into shouts of joy as he spotted the tractor pulling a wagon. It was a nice ride with some spooky surprises along the way. Oh, and the wagon rides are unlimited! We ended our fun with a cool-down consisting of a lap around the corn "maize" before we showed off our muscles by lifting the two 30-pound pumpkins we brought home for Halloween. I think if we come back when the kids are older, we'll check out the haunted house and maybe grab a bite for lunch so the kids can have an entire day to enjoy all the activities. You can view our Downey's Farms slideshow here:

Pumpkinfest takes place from September 25 to October 31, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm so there is still plenty of time to stop by. Tickets are $5.50 during the week or $11 on weekends or holidays. They also have a family rate of $50 for 2 adults and 3 children. Children under 2 are free. You can find more information and direction on their site DowneysFarms.com. And in case you missed it, here's is the article from the Toronto Star on How to pick the perfect pumpkin.

If you're looking for more ideas on places to visit this fall in the York Region, Durham Region or the Hills of Headwaters, don't forget to visit CentralCounties.ca. You can begin your search by choosing from:

Stay tuned for my review of Camp Spooky at Canada's Wonderland!

Disclosure: I was given four tickets for free admission to Downey's Farms for the purpose of this review. The thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own honest opinions.