Tanaka Farms Irvine – Family Fun

What a fun time at Tanaka Farms! In mid October a few of us moms (and a few dads) all met up at Tanaka Farms at 5380 3/4 University Dr., Irvine in Orange County, CA for a little pumpkin patch fun. It was my son, Christian’s birthday, so we thought he’d love to do something different.

Tanaka Farms Entrance

We had big plans for him today, so we were eager to leave the house. As soon as he woke up, we embarked on our way to Irvine, CA where we would be meeting up with the other families at Tanaka Farms. My husband and I both wanted to do something special with our boy on his first birthday, so we thought that a pumpkin patch was perfect for this time of year!

Tanaka Farms Irvine California

When we first got there, we took him to the petting zoo where he was able to pet several different goats and about 20 other different types of animals. Some were grazing, some sleeping, and some wandering around. We took a ton of good pics! For a mere $3, you can’t beat seeing the look on your child’s face when they pet the goats. You don’t just see them through a fence. You actually get to go into their pen and sit next to them on hay bales!

Tanaka Petting Zoo - Goats Gallore!

We found a perfect picture area at their “Tanaka’s Pile of Pumpkins” that had a ton of pumpkins stacked on wagons with scarecrows and some on haystacks. We took a lot more really cute pictures of Christian there, and a few of the other moms and their little ones. Afterwards, we made our way in line to the hay ride around their 30 acre farm. There, they took us on a tour of all of the vast areas of different crops including pumpkins (as far as the eye can see), onion, carrots, gourds, watermelon, corn and I’m sure a lot more I wasn’t able to see.

Our happy boy with pumpkins

Christian had fun looking around on the hayride until it dropped us off at the corn maze. There were a ton of older kids running through the maze and screaming with joy. Apparently the goal was to find the middle without getting lost. It wasn’t difficult and it didn’t take us very long. It was just a matter of following the paths in circles all of the way around until reaching the middle.

Tanaka Farms Irvine Pumpkin Patch

We decided to walk back to the car after that because Christian fell asleep in his Ergo carrier on daddy’s back while we were walking through the maze. On the way back we passed an area where you could buy homemade food, pumpkins, vegetables, gourds and other pumpkin carving gear. We also passed a small haystack maze for the little tykes. Since Christian was out cold, we just made our way back to the car to head home.

Tanaka Farms Irvine Haystack Maze

We think he had a great time there and will be back again for a few of their other tours including picking strawberries in the summer, and even Christmas trees!

Walking through the corn maze

Tanaka Farms Irvine Scarecrow

We love watermelons!

About the Author: GG lives in Southern California and is the proud mother of 1 son. She is currently pregnant with her second child due early next year. GG and her family are avid family travelers who enjoy sharing their experiences.