We booked it home after a 15 day road trip. Most people would want to rest. Us? We got right into it and spent a day with family at the pumpkin patch and eating BBQ on a patio. All that driving to make it home was totally worth it to see the minis play with cousins!
We went to our favorite local pumpkin patch in Madrid, Freys Pumpkins. We love this family owned pumpkin patch because it's simple. We loaded our car with pumpkins...well, the dog got to eat his first. We had hoped to eat at Whatcha Smokin' BBQ, but they would not allow dogs on their patio (which is in the parking lot). We were extemely disappointed because this is by far our favorite bbq place in Iowa. However, we weren't happy with their response to our question about allowing dogs, so we went to Steamboat Boys in Clive, IA instead.
It was freezing out (40 some degrees is freezing to me), but we sat on the patio for a few reasons, the biggest though was that they allowed dogs on their completely enclosed, wonderful patio. The food was good and we enjoyed a leisurely dinner with family. The kids even got to play around on the patio because we had the whole thing to ourselves.