C. Oregon families get ready for Halloween by taking in all the fun at pumpkin patches

(Update: Adding video, comments from families)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Halloween is right around the corner, with Casper and many other friendly ghosts, goblins and others ready to scare you (or ask you for candy). Pumpkin pies are in the oven, and children are ready to go trick-or-treating.

Families are getting into the Halloween spirit by also visiting pumpkin patches. Places like D and D Ranch and Smith Rock Ranch offer much more than pumpkins these days, with family-oriented features ranging from a rope course to corn mazes, petting zoos, pony rides, a hay maze, and, of course, plenty of pumpkins to pick from.

I spoke with some young visitors Sunday at the DD Ranch.

Bend resident Annalise Kwaterski said, " I'm going to be a purple witch."

Her brother, Caleb Kwaterski, said, "I'm going to be one of those blow-up things that it's kind of like i'm riding a velociraptor."

DD Ranch' co-owner Jeffrey Anspach talked about the fun the ranch can share with kids and families at this special time of year.

"It's always a blast!" he said. " I do the hay ride, where we go out to the cow-calf pair herd and feed the cows. It's always a thrill, for young and old alike. It's a pretty unique event -- and I have a captive audience to tell all my cow jokes, so that's pretty good." 

 Anspach said attendance in 2021 was by far the largest number of people they've seen. DD Ranch's last day for the "You-Pick Pumpkin Patch" is on Halloween itself - that's a week from Monday.