Pumpkin Patch

Back in the middle of October, we took the children on a field trip to the pumpkin patch for playgroup.  We took a short hay ride to the patch.  One of the workers explained to the children how pumpkins grow and what to look for when picking out the perfect pumpkin.  As you can tell from the bottom right picture, Eliza for some reason, was not particularly thrilled by the hay ride.  Zabien on the other hand was so infatuated with the tractor that he became upset when I made him sit down (hence the grump look on his face).  She had so much fun at the pumpkin patch last year that I thought she would have a ball choosing her pumpkin.  This time, she chose the closest one to her, then went straight back to the wagon to wait for everyone else.  

Zabien was a bit more indecisive.  He grabbed the prickly part of the vine right away.  After that, he was very put off about holding his pumpkin - I ended up bagging and lugging it around for him.

After choosing our pumpkins from the patch, we headed over to the corn maze and giant slide.  

The corn maze this year was more challenging than last year.  We got turned around several times, and only managed to get out by having some of the moms stand by the entrances to the dead ends or roads we had already been on.  The kids didn't seem to mind at all - they thought running up and down the corn aisles through the mud was the best thing they could do that day.  

 I couldn't get any pictures of the kids going down the giant slide because Eliza went down in front of me, and I had to go down with Zabien in order for him to go.  You have to go down the slide in order to exit the corn maze.

Perhaps the highlight of the morning was the ice cream cone at the end of the tour.  This was Zabien's first ice cream cone, and he wasn't quite sure what to do with it when he got down to the cone.  A grandparent of one of the other children kept telling him to bite it.  Zaby stuck his face into the middle and when he went to "bite" the ice cream, he ended up sucking it up his nose.  After I demonstrated for him, he finally got it down and enjoyed the entire thing.

 Eliza is an old pro at ice cream cones - she wouldn't even share one bite with me! :)  Based on the smiles received when back in the van, I would say the morning was a success.

**  A couple of weeks later, our family rode the Perkasie Lions Club hayride.  It's something we look forward to every year.  I don't know why Eliza insisted on being so silly during this picture - no matter how much bribing we did, she wanted to "pretend" to be asleep.  The smile on her face clearly proves that she is merely pretending. The kids ask to go on a hay ride all the time, so it was a good thing we made it happen. 

 The entire ride Zabien said, "Brrm Brmm" over and over again.  If the tractor driver would have let Zaby even sit in the driver's seat, he would have been in little boy heaven. I find it a bit humorous that he has this football in his hand.  Every time we leave the house, we have to take something with us.  It is usually his little green scriptures, but this time it was his football.  I was a bit nervous he would suddenly throw it at someone (the kid has a good arm), but he held it tightly the whole time. 

An awkward picture at most.  I was trying to catch them getting off the hay wagon.  Picture quality took a back seat to safety though - they both needed help climbing down the ladder.