Sunday, October 21, 2007

Pumpkin Patch

Every October, we like to head on up to Bates Nut Farm, where nuts from all over the world come together. Their pumpkin patch boasts a tractor hayride, a horse-drawn hayride, pony rides, a petting zoo, a bouncy house, a rock climbing wall, arts and crafts, and of course nuts, among other food items. I think there may be a corn maze. And of course there are pumpkins.

We've been to the pumpkin patch in sweltering heat, overcast skies, and even rain. This year was quite temperate, but super-windy, with 35 mile per hour santa ana winds (which are responsible for pushing a brush fire our way, actually, forcing us to close up our windows on this beautiful October Sunday).

This year we were fortunate to meet up with some of our friends. There a two couples we socialize with with relative frequency. The other two couples hang out with other couple friends, but we really don't much. Anyway, one of the cool things about them is that their kids are 6 months older than and younger than Marcie. I think of Marcie as "the bridge child," which really is silly because the oldest of the three, Lucas, is much more into Casey than Marcie. And the youngest of the three, Katelyn isn't really into anybody yet-- she's still too young. But in my head, I think our kids will be best friends because they're all close in age. And yeah, I know I shouldn't push that expectation on my kids. I mean just because I like their parents doesn't mean they have to like each other. But I'm digressing. The point of explaining these other two families is that I recently realized we've never tried to get pictures of all our kids together. Until today.

Below is a shot we got (our first one) of the four kids. And I love it. I think everything about this picture is a riot-- from what the sign says to Marcie's expression. It cracks me up.


It's not the only good shot we got of the kids. Though they aren't exactly looking at the camera in the rest of them. Here's Lucas and Casey clowning around:

And here's the best shot (sadly) I got of Marcie and Casey. One thing you'll notice is that the kids are wearing identical I heart Mom t-shirts. I had picked out orange and green tops for the kids, but Marcie insisted on these. She's become quite opinionated these days. And she's letting us know it. Or hear it, anyway. I can tell her second birthday isn't far off.

And the last shot I got of the kids was of them all hanging out in the pumpkins and eating a snack (one of their favorite things to do).


We also met up with some friends of ours who have kids who are a little older. It was so nice of them to trek all the way up to Valley Center to hop on a hayride and wander through the pumpkin patch with us. I'm always so impressed by how well-behaved their eight- and ten-year olds are. Casey spent quite a bit of time chasing their 10-year-old all over the pumpkin patch. And I even snapped a couple photos of Casey with him-- which I'm withholding for privacy sake because I haven't asked his parents for permission. Suffice to say, Casey had a blast following the 10-year-old's lead. And then Casey had a monstrous meltdown. He couldn't adequately express to me what he was so upset about, but his whining was getting on my nerves and the random screeching he directed at me told me it was time to race home. So we immediately did just that. Without even so much as a good-bye to our friends! Yikes! Their parents, though, so I'm hopeful they understood what happened. Casey didn't really calm down even after we got home-- but he is napping now.

Oh. And although Marcie's not smiling in this picture, I promise she's having a good time. Here's our annual family pumpkin patch photo:


2 comments:

Glen and Andrea said...

Love the photos! It looks like you had a great day.

Anonymous said...

D & I both love the pics - especially the "nuts" one.

...Holly