pumpkin farm

it was beginning to look like we weren’t going to make it to the pumpkin farm this year and that was totally bumming me out.  because there’s not that much to indicate fall as arrived around here- no fall leaves, no chilly weather (it’s still in the near 90s!), no fall clothes to bust out.  so the only thing we have to mark the change of seasons is to drive an hour to a real working farm in order to get our fix of fallishness.

except life has been very, very busy for us lately.  and adding this one extra trip made both phil and i very, very tired.

but we have a certain 8 year old in our house who seems to be growing very big on continuing traditions and urges us to do the same things at the same time of year and anticipates it all with great relish.  the boy has the selective memory of an elephant, especially when it comes to fond memories of things done and places visited in years past.

so a week before halloween, we mustered up our flagging spirits, pulled allie out of school a couple hours early, and hit the road.

to visit the pumpkin patch.

every single time with this one.

at least i have one who will pause long enough for a picture.

this is about the only time we got a smile out of this boy.  he wasn’t feeling too well and was missing his naps for the day.  the recipe for brewing a perfect storm…

so you just gotta keep shooting when the giggles abound.

love.

cuz the rest of the time he looked like this.

and insisted on being held for most of the day.  phooey on the farmer in training business.

all the boy wanted was his yellow blankie and his crib to sleep in.  and maybe a swig of lemonade, too.

he certainly didn’t get what all the fuss over riding behind a dusty old tractor was about.

but these guys managed to make this trip worth it.

making memories for the sibs.  yes, please.

so thanks to this guy for prodding us to not let busyness or tiredness stand in the way of a family tradition.

the thing about mikey?  he makes friends wherever he goes.  even while riding behind a dusty old tractor.  and apparently the other little guy was cut from the same cloth because they became fast friends.

is it weird that it still sometimes strikes me as strange that i have four kids? 

no?

okay, good.  just checking.

family pic!

this picture was ridiculously hard to get.  mostly cuz that little dude up in the top center was crying his head off.

and because he kept doing this.

so anyway, our new buddies joined us on the tractor ride again.

oh and the little guy had two little sisters, too!  friends all around.  except for jonah, who was still grouchy. and sitting on daddy’s lap.

time to get serious and pick a winner.  phil was hoping that this year, we could enjoy visiting the farm but then buy pumpkins for five bucks at the market later.  mikey was not at all down with this idea.

so we told him if he could lift…

and carry…

the pumpkin of his choice…

and get it all the way down the hill…

into the checkout tent…

why then, we’d buy it for him.

he even got his sister to help out for a total of about two feet.

while this one reveled in her unhelpfulness.

following in his big brother’s footsteps.

except he was having issues with the hay touching his shoes.  didn’t like that.

sometimes getting a smiling baby in a pumpkin patch picture just isn’t in the cards.  so this one will have to do.

but back to the big brother.  where there’s a will…

there surely is a way and he did it all by himself!

enjoying the proverbial fruit of his labor.  (daddy and his poor credit card on the other hand…)

see you next year at the farm!  but please, let a fella get some sleep first next time, k?