Pumpkin Day

Tyler, Lynnea and I went with the MOPS group to the pumpkin patch a few days ago. (I know, and I'm just blogging about it now?) Sorry, I've been busy. Anyway, there were quite a few of us that went to play in the pumpkins, take a train ride through forest-esque scenery, and feel like we were far away from city life.

The first thing we did was take a train ride throughout the park. Tyler loved it! He loves riding on any train, no matter what size it is. His excited shouts of, "mommy, look! water!!" made me feel like I hadn't taken him outside his entire life. Rebekah and I were a little nervous that my accident-prone son wanted to sit as close to the edge as possible and lean forward a little to watch the track go by but, despite my vice-like grip on his pants, he enjoyed it and told me later that his favorite part was the tunnel at the very end. Here's my view. Valerie, Rebekah, Michelle and I chose the back of the train. We conveniently chose a seat right in front of the "tour guide" if you will. His voice sounded so much like my Papa's and I almost teared up when he started talking about a war memorial on the tour. It made me miss my Papa so much. You could tell he was really into his job. Even turtles sitting on a rock caught his attention and he made sure to share his observation with all of the passengers.

Now, when I was coming to the pumpkin patch I thought to myself, "I'll get great shots of the kids in the pumpkins. It will be awesome!!" Well, after sorting through the blurry, dark, and no-smile shots, here are the best ones. Valerie, if you have a good picture of me on the train, can you send it over? If anyone else got good shots of Lynnea in the pumpkins I'd love to have one. For some reason, my photography skills were suffering. Here's a cute one of Tyler. He loved climbing all over the pumpkins and, as long as the workers weren't telling him to stop, I let him.

Lynnea looked like a little hillbilly sucking on a piece of hay. It was so funny. I went to take it away from her and then thought it woul make such a cute picture.

Lynnea loved being in the middle of the pumpkins.

This next picture is so typical of Lynnea and Tyler's relationship. Tyler can make her laugh so hard. I think all he was doing was trying to kiss her nose and she thought it was hilarious. I love the closeness that my kids share.

Tyler also loved the maze. I almost got lost and I could see my way out. It was a tough one!! =)

And then came the part we were all waiting for. The FREE pumpkin!! Well, you had to pay for it when you bought the ticket. When we first got to the park, I thought, "wow! you get to pick a big pumpkin for that price! What a deal." At th end of the "tour" they led us to this miniature pumpkin patch and said, "ok, every kid gets a pumpkin." I must admit, it was more cost effective to give out miniature pumpkins but I was hoping for a jack-o-lantern. I'll have to carve it out and make a vase like Michelle suggested. It sounds like the only thing you can do with a little guy this size. Tyler loved picking out his own pumpkin. Of course, I made him take a little time to do it. I said no to the first one because it took him .5 seconds to pick one and that just wasn't an "experience." He ended up finding a pretty cute one and we brought it home.

We headed out to have our snack shortly afterward and were attacked by bright yellow bees. No kidding, I pulled out a fruit leather and, within seconds, 5 bees were settling in to get a lick. Needless to say, the moms quickly packed up their food and abandoned the snack area a little early. All in all, we had a great time!! Thanks, Aly, for planning it for all of us!