Let’s kick off another gorgeous fall afternoon with part two of our weekend pumpkin adventure! If you missed our first post in this series, here’s a quick recap: Ford recently reached out to us with a challenge too compelling to pass up. Cede control and let Noah, our 5-year-old, take his mom and dad on a trip of his choice, dictated by his rules. I have to say, I’m not sure if any future adventures Jonathan and I take with him will ever compare!

We handed our mini tour guide (correction: our super manly, full-size and totally in charge tour guide—sorry, Noah!) the virtual keys to our entire weekend.  Nothing captures the beauty of the changing seasons like a trip to the North Georgia mountains, so we were justifiably impressed when he chose this as our destination. Did our 5-year-old have it all figured out already?

Every stop was dictated by a young boy’s curiosity—watching a chainsaw carver in action at a roadside stand, “grubbing” for gems at a gold mine, taking a hayride through a giant pumpkin patch… We even let him play DJ the entire trip (the sound system in the new Ford Explorer is ahhhmazing, btw), easily setting new records for the number of continuous repeats of favorite tracks by The Chipmunks.

While the pumpkin patch was our highlight and ultimate destination, all the stops between were equally as solid. My husband and I definitely shared a parenting moment as we experienced Noah’s awesome mind at work. We watched the city vanish behind him and the rolling foothills appear as he reacted to his new leadership responsibilities. The light that shined in his eyes throughout the entire experience told the story of the win we gained from our kid-led exploration.

To take advantage of this teachable moment, we a dug a little deeper after we came home and unloaded our massive haul of pumpkins. Voraciously reading everything we could find on the subject of pumpkins, we ended up with the “Top 5 Most Interesting Pumpkin Facts According To Noah”:

Give your kids the freedom to explore on their terms and we promise you’ll be in for a “kidventure” filled with memories that your family will treasure forever!

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This content was created in partnership with Ford to help make creativity a part of every drive.