It’s that spooky, sugary time of year again! Halloween is just around the corner, the children in your life are thinking about their costumes, candy and of course, the pumpkin obsessed adults you know are flocking to coffee bars for pumpkin spice everything.

Pumpkin patches, like Christmas tree farms and corn mazes, can be open one year, and not the next – due to the changing climate, varying rainy season (or lack thereof) and the year-to-year profitability and feasibility of patch operation. So, to make things easy, I wanted to provide you, dear FresYes readers, with a guide to the best bets for pumpkin patching fun in the Fresno/Clovis area (+ one honorable mention in Reedley) for 2019.

1. Pumpkin King

Located on the northwest corner of Blackstone and Shaw, Pumpkin King has been operating retail patches for 33 years and has a long-standing  “pop-up” patch smack dab in the middle of Fresno offering a wide variety of pumpkins (price range is $3-$25), squash, corn and corn husks for sale, pony rides, shaved ice, fall photos, bounce houses and a hay-bale maze. Parking is ample and admission is free. Hours are 9 am to 9 pm, 7 days a week. 

Something else extra special about Pumpkin King is the patch’s long-standing commitment to helping fill the need for blood donations for local hospitals. Each year, Pumpkin King hosts the Great Pumpkin Blood Drive and offers free pumpkins to donors. Typically donations are taken once a week, on Sundays. Contact the patch directly for additional details. 

2. Planet Pumpkin

Planet Pumpkin is located on the northeast corner of First & Nees and is open 7 days a week from 9 am to 10 pm, and 11 pm on weekend nights. They offer pumpkins of all sizes and types, shaved ice, cotton candy, face painting and rides for just $1/per person. You can also reserve picnic tables to host a birthday party there. Admission and parking are free.

3. Simonian Farms

Located in eastern Fresno, en route to Sanger, Simonian Farms offers back in time, wild-west style fun with their year-round ice cream and retro soda shop, shooting gallery and gold-panning area. During the month of October, Simonian offers a pumpkin patch complete with Halloween costume accessories gift shop, a haunted house, and a hay bale maze. Entrance is free, and while you’re there, you can also stock up on locally grown fruits and vegetables, as well as artisan-made local jams, jellies, wines, and candies. Our family went to this patch a few years back and had a really nice time. Simonian Farms is open from 9 am to 6 pm daily.

4. The Grove of Old Town Clovis

The Grove of Old Town Clovis is a relative newcomer on the scene, however, it is locally-owned and operated by a long-time Clovis residing couple excited to provide a fun, family environment in Old Town Clovis from October 4^th through the 31^st. It appears that there will be at least seven different carnival rides for guests to enjoy, as well as live music from 7-10 pm every Friday and Saturday night during the patch’s operating season. Admission is $1 on Fridays and weekends. The Grove is located at 804 Clovis Avenue in Clovis.

Honorable Beyond Fresno/Clovis Mention: Hillcrest Farms

Located in Reedley, CA, just 40 minutes southeast of Fresno, Hillcrest offers a wooded wonderland of family fun with pumpkins, steam train rides ($4/person), hayrides ($3/per person), concessions, nature trails and play areas. Of all the patches, this is the one I hear touted most often as the favorite.

Hillcrest does have a per vehicle fee of $5/car on the 1^st, 2nd and last weekends of the month, and $10 per car on the peak third, fourth and fifth weekends in October. 2019 operating hours are 10am to 5pm, Saturdays and Sundays.

For additional information on any of the patches mentioned, click the name of the patch to be directed to their website or Facebook page.

When was the last time you experienced awe? The type of awe that leaves you speechless or just muttering “wow” quietly? For my husband and me, it was last month when we made the short drive to Paso Robles to experience Bruce Munro’s Field of Light at Sensorio. Have you heard about it yet?

The Field of Light is located just under two hours away from Fresno and makes for a very easy road trip. What exactly is the Field of Light? It’s exactly that! Over 58,000 lights in a 17-acre field of rolling hills and walking paths. Every single light sways gently in the breeze, and slowly – almost undetectably – changes colors every few moments creating an undulating, calming, floating rainbow along the hillside. It’s truly something out of this world, remarkable, stunning and like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

Bruce Munro is the artist who designed the display, which has been installed with the help of 60+ volunteers working 40 hours a week for 6 weeks straight! The site of the Field of Light is the future home of a lovely hillside event venue and future hotel and potentially a botanical garden – but for now, until January 2020 you can enjoy the art that Bruce Munro designed in lights.

The Field of Light is open Wednesday through Sunday each week, beginning at 5:30 and ending 9 pm on Wednesdays and Sundays and 10 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. The site features a covered picnic area, expansive lawn, a stage featuring live music each weekend night, a taco truck, wine by the glass and a concession bar featuring fun food like beignets and charcuterie platters. (And yes, there are nice, clean restrooms, too.)

Tickets to the Field of Light are available for advance purchase online here. You can also purchase VIP tickets that provide a full course dinner and viewing of the field from a special private terrace. 

Getting to the Field of Light is easy from Fresno. All you have to do is take 41 south until you reach the 46, then head west to 4380 CA-46 in Paso Robles, 93446. (It’s just before Eberle Winery, so if you’ve hit Eberle, turn around – you’ve passed the entrance.)

I highly recommend taking advantage of the opportunity to experience Bruce Munro’s Field of Light while we are lucky enough to have it so close to us. From speaking to the docents, we learned people have traveled from all over the world to see it, and as Fresnans we only have to drive 113 miles down the highway. 

A few quick tips: If you go, please note you can not take flash photos or use professional photography equipment, and I strongly suggest arriving before sunset so you can watch the lights slowly begin to glow and get brighter as the sky gets darker. There are two different walking paths through the lights – one is wheelchair/stroller accessible and the other is not. Wear comfortable walking shoes. Even those who can’t walk very far will still be able to enjoy the experience. 

Now take my word for it, plan a drive to Paso Robles, book your tickets and don’t miss this amazing experience!

Are you a green thumb or a black thumb? Do your house plants thrive, or do they continue to exist only because they are plastic and you can’t kill them? Either way – Foliage, a former pop-up now brick-and-mortar plant shop can either fuel your passion for plants or teach you how to improve your track record with them!

Foliage House Plant Shop & Design Studio was founded by Yasmeen Gonzalez. She initially began growing and designing house plants as a personal creative outlet, but soon found she wanted to share her love for plants with others through education, encouragement and by designing beautifully arranged house plants for others to enjoy in their homes or businesses. 

In her new shop, which is located in the Dewitt Building at 453 Pollasky Ave Suite #102 in Old Town Clovis, Yasmeen helps customers select the perfect plants, helps them repot or revive their own and event teaches classes on proper plant care. 

Yasmeen’s Plant Rehab class (which you can find by searching Foliage events on Eventbrite) offers 2.5 hours of instruction for guests, who each bring one houseplant that’s either struggling or beyond struggling. Each guest will be walked through what likely went wrong, how to prevent it from happening again and if it’s possible to revive the plant, they will find out the steps or even complete some of the steps in the shop. If the loss of the plant is just too much to bear, guests can drown their sorrows over sips of wine, with Foliage also offers with the class. One-on-one private instruction and assistance with plant re-potting and revival is also offered for $45. 

Foliage offers a variety of unique and exotic plants as well as plants that are very popular at this moment in time like Fiddle Leaf Fig trees and Monstera plants. Additionally, ceramic pots, hand-woven jute macramé hangers and other plant accessories are available for purchase. Yasmeen also loves supporting other local creatives and artists – so you can find plant related art pieces, prints and stickers by local artist Art by Elowyn for sale in store.

Whether you’re shopping for plants or in need of help with your own plants, you’ll definitely want to make time for a visit to Foliage in Clovis soon. Beyond the great selection and assistance, you’ll be able to look forward to, the shop itself is incredibly beautiful and very “Instagram-worthy”. The atmosphere is relaxing and the light that streams into the shop makes the plants that adorn the entire interior perky and happy to greet you. 

To follow Foliage and see what plants are coming in (you can call to reserve plants that will be held for one day, too!) check out their Instagram here.

Picture this: you’re sitting at home after a long, tough day and the doorbell rings. You open the door, and there stands a delivery person holding a box of the most amazing dessert you’ve ever laid eyes on, just for you. 

Or, how about this – it’s your dear friend’s birthday. You want to surprise her with a delivery but, she’s an extra special friend and a typical gift just won’t do. Instead, you want to send her the most delicious, warm, melty, crisp-on-the-outside chewy-on-the-inside chocolate chip cookies that were ever baked. 

Guess what? If you live in the Fresno/Clovis area, you’re in luck – because this local business, Crave Cookie Company has got you covered!

Crave is all about delivering super-premium chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven to you. They do one thing, and they do it extraordinarily well. They don’t offer any other items – but frankly, once you taste their cookies, you may forget other types exist in the universe anyway. Really – they’re that good.   

Crave Cookies started from a family recipe that turned out to be a major crowd-pleaser. Sandi Shrivner, husband Travis and brother Sam Eaton are the founders of the company and relatively new to the Fresno/Clovis area. Their business started in Rippon, CA and was a success, and the family recently moved to Clovis and (lucky for us!) brought their delicious cookies.

This week, I was able to place an order for a box of Crave Cookies of my own (ok, ok, I shared – but I kind of didn’t want to!). To get a box, all you have to do is go to cravecookie.co, choose a delivery time and order size, pay for your order, make sure you’ve got some milk on hand, then sit back and wait for your cookies to arrive piping hot and fresh from the oven. Once you’ve ordered, you’ll receive a confirmation text with a live update link you can refresh so you’ll know once your cookies are officially on the route.

Crave Cookies are above average in taste and quality, but also in size. A box of four cookies fed my family of three plus two friends for more than two servings apiece. They were also the best cookies I’ve ever eaten in my life. Really. They are crisp on the outer edges, chewy and doughy in the middle (yet not raw) and the chocolate chips are large and perfectly melted. The cookies are rich without being greasy and very sweet, yet with the perfect amount of saltiness to balance the flavor.

I ended up eating my cookie in three separate sittings. (But oh, how I looked forward to every single bite!) If you can’t finish your cookie in one sitting, I had good luck wrapping my leftover cookie in a paper towel and microwaving it for 12 seconds to make it nice and warm again. 

Crave Cookie is still relatively new to our area and their business is growing rapidly. Currently, Crave delivers to the following zip codes: 93612, 93611, 93619, 93720, 93730. Check this page for future updates. (In the meantime, go visit your friends who live or work in those areas. I’m sure they won’t mind you popping in if you’re treating them to a free Crave Cookie!) Also, if you order 10 or more boxes, Crave will deliver anywhere in the Fresno metro area. (Get your coworkers together and place a big order! This is what Venmo and PayPal were invented to help you split, right?)Ready to order your own box? Click here to go to the Crave Cookie site now. Enjoy! And, you’re welcome. 😉

Are you familiar with KLSD? If you love awesome, locally-made apparel, supporting women-owned businesses and generally positive and empowering people – it’s time you get to know this business stat.

KLSD was started five years ago in the garage of founder Alexandra Register. She was searching for a way to satisfy her need to create as well as escape the trappings of a corporate work environment. The brand became known for awesome apparel such as hats, and also tanks and t-shirts with empowering or localized phrases and cool designs. 

Since 2014, KLSD had grown and the business moved from a garage to an office of its own and from a one-woman show to a team of seven fantastic women. The brand also expanded to offer home décor and custom party favors. 

KLSD is more than just a provider of well-designed goods – it has grown to become a presence in the Central Valley seeking to connect, empower and motivate women. Each week, Register publishes awesome content online such as delicious dinner recipes with step-by-step walkthroughs in partnership with Chef Shayna Telesmanic and fitness tips from fitness instructor Christine Brown. 

The KLSD website also features stories of women and mothers who have overcome difficult things in life – told firsthand with the intent to inspire and reduce isolation for others experiencing similar challenges such as infertility and post-partum depression or the stress of being married to a first-responder or coping with anxiety.

Having a larger, retail shop in Downtown Fresno and being able to connect in new ways with local women have been goals for Register for some time, and earlier this Spring at an ArtHop held in the Peerless Building, she was able to share that she was making that dream a reality and moving KLSD into the building in the coming months. 

The new Downtown location opened with a grand opening celebration that was held on Friday, August 16^th 5-9pm. It featured Brick Loven (wood-fired pizza) Tacos Jacinto and Sno Café food trucks as well cold-brewed coffee and tea from Fulton Street Coffee and cocktails from D’S House Fresno. There was also music from DJHunnitK and chances to win shop discounts through playing games. The event and the shop are family-friendly and you’ll be able to shop KLSD merchandise for the first time in its new home. The new KLSD is located at 1755 Broadway Street in Fresno, 93721. Even if you couldn’t make the grand opening event – you’ll want to make time to visit KLSD soon! Shop their awesome goods in advance online here.

The northeast corner of Herndon and Marks Avenues in northwest Fresno is experiencing a renaissance and those who live nearby are not at all sad about it.

It began with the return of Starbucks into the red brick building where it once existed, (but later left due to the sheer volume of Starbucks locations that opened during too short a period of time to support business during economic downturn) and continued with the addition of beloved artisan ice cream shop Ampersand’s second location on the other end of the building. 

This past week, saw the kickoff of another exciting era for the corner as Mad Duck neighborhood tap house opened their third Fresno location with a bang just across the driveway from Ampersand in a brand new custom building with space for both their brewery functions and their largest restaurant yet. 

Mad Duck officially opened its new location’s doors on July 31^st, and this weekend my family and I visited in honor of my “29^th” (give or take a few years) birthday. This new location opens to a large dining room with an additional back room that holds more tables, and a large bar is located on the right-hand side as you enter. The brewery is behind that and can be seen through large windows. 

The Herndon and Marks Mad Duck also features an expansive patio (similar to the one across from Maya Cinemas) which will be really enjoyable as the weather cools this fall. 

If you decide to go check out Mad Duck’s new digs, there are some great specials going on that will make it extra worth your while! On Mondays, they are featuring $4 Mad Duck brew pints, Tuesdays are Happy Hour all day long, Wednesdays offer Happy Hour and Street Tacos from 8pm to close, Thursday’s special will be $3 (select) cocktails, Fridays select whiskeys and Mad Duck pints for just $3. On the weekends, if it’s Saturday you can fill a Mad Duck growler for just $12 and on Sundays you can enjoy $4 Mimosas or Bloody Marys. Mad Duck is open 7 days a week from 11am to midnight, and their new location is on the northeast corner of Herndon and Marks. If you have questions, their website is here or you can give them a call at 325-3825.

Looking for something fun to do indoors while you enjoy the dog days of summer? With a heatwave upon us and 2-3 weeks of summer break for school-aged kids remaining United Skates of Clovis roller rink may be the perfect place to spend your days or nights!

United Skates of Clovis took over the former Cal-Skate Clovis building located on Peach and Gettysburg. The interior of the building has been entirely revamped and now features blacklight accentuated neon murals of local landmarks and mascots. 

In the years leading up to United Skates purchasing the rink, the arcade games had been removed, the skates were in need of updating and the café offerings had become pretty dismal. I’d accompanied my son’s class on several field trips, and if a child isn’t very good at skating, it can be a pretty long two hours with nothing else to do. 

Now, United Skates of Clovis proudly offers over 20 new arcade games (and the chance to earn prizes), and extended café seating area, an expanded café menu featuring party platters of nachos, cinnamon pretzels, pizza, and cotton candy towers. The skates available for rental for both kids and adults are new and in great shape. Even the DJ booth, sound equipment, neon carpeting, and décor has been overhauled. Not a skater but want to take the kids? There’s free wifi to enjoy while you relax with a snack and watch from the café area. United Skates of Clovis is practically a brand-new rink, ready to provide years of memories to the next generation of skaters. 

United Skates of Clovis is open seven days a week and public skate sessions during the summer are from 12-5 pm during the day and 6-9 pm at night during the week. Wednesday evenings from 5:30-8: 30 pm and Saturday mornings from 9:30-11: 30 am are reserved for private parties. On weekends, public skate sessions are held from 12-3pm, 3:30-6pm, and 7-10pm. 

The cost to skate during daytime public sessions is $8 per person plus $4 for quad skate rentals or $8 for rollerblade rentals. At night, skating is $9 per person and skate rentals remain the same as daytime prices, however on Monday and Tuesday nights the per person admission is only $2 and on Thursdays, admission is $8 and includes quad skate rental. They do have bars that make it easier for beginning skaters to get around the rink, (“skate mates”) and those are $5 per skating session to rent. 

Private parties/birthday parties are available with packages that can be customized to include arcade tokens, pizza slices, cotton candy towers, glow sticks and more – and of course, all birthday packages include admission and skate rentals. Party guests even receive a free pass to return to skate on a future date. For more info on party packages, click here. 

If you’re looking to skate with your crew as affordably as possible, your best bets are Monday, Tuesday or Thursday nights – or, to sign up to receive email specials here. 

United Skates of Clovis is located at 2881 Peach Ave in Clovis, 93612. For directions click here. 

Here at FresYes, some of our most shared and commented on blog posts of all time have been focused on fun and unique ways to celebrate kids’ birthdays, here in town. Today we have a new idea to share with you, this one may be especially appealing to the older kids in your family!

Finding ways to entertain tweens and teens can be tricky, and planning an age-appropriate birthday for them can be even trickier. As I enter the stages of motherhood that involve parenting a child in this age-range, I’m continually learning about activities tweens and teens enjoy and what plans they consider cool and “so lame, Mom.” (It’s a super fine line I’ve learned.)

If you too, are the parent of a child in this age-range and looking for an approved party idea, I’ve got one you may not have thought of before: Metalmark Climbing & Fitness Gym! 

Recently, my son was invited to a friend’s birthday at Metalmark and he had an absolute blast. I decided to dig a bit deeper to learn more about hosting a birthday there, so I could share it here with you. 

Metalmark is an indoor, climate-controlled rock climbing and fitness gym located at 4042 N. Cedar in Fresno (in Granite Park). Metalmark offers over 70 top lead routes (rock climbing paths in which a rope is threaded through a loop at the top of the climbing surface) 50 lead terrain routes (climbing paths in which the rope begins from the ground and is threaded as a climber climbs, over 75 bouldering problems (courses that don’t require ropes), machines, free weights, yoga, Zumba and Tabata classes plus cardio equipment, too!

Though Metalmark is a membership-based gym for adults, they also offer opportunities for kids to try out climbing through Kids Belay sessions (sessions in which an experienced trainer supports children while they climb using a rope pulley system to ensure safety as they go) and in-house birthday parties!

Birthday parties at Metalmark give kids the opportunity to try out climbing with the supervision, encouragement, and instruction of qualified and fun instructors. Parties are booked in two-hour blocks and one instructor is provided for every 6 kids participating. The first 5 kids are included in the $125 party booking fee and each additional child is $25. Participants’ parents must sign a waiver before kids participate, however this can be done online, in advance easily. 

If you have a tween or teen, you know they can often be a bit tight-lipped when it comes to sharing many details about social events and occurrences of their days, however, my son came home really excited to share about his experience – proud that he’d reached the top of several climbs (his first time attempting the activity) and he said the instructors were “super cool and nice” and each party guest had tons of opportunities to climb during the party and didn’t have to wait long at all for turns. 

Though refreshments aren’t included in the birthday package, there is a patio and picnic area where party guests can enjoy cake, ice cream or any other desired treats brought for the party.  If you’re looking for a unique, new party venue, especially one that is well-suited for older kids, check out Metalmark! You can visit their website for additional info here or book a Kids Belay or Birthday Session here. Happy climbing!