If you follow me on Instagram (if you don’t, I’m amandaleighvt), you know that my family’s version of a trip to the pumpkin patch was a trip to Kroger to buy pumpkins. There are pumpkins on my porch; everyone’s happy. No thanks to me, they did get to visit a real pumpkin patch, too.
A week or so ago, David’s preschool class took a trip to a local pumpkin patch. If you read this blog regularly, you know that I’m not the type to throw confetti in the street because it’s fall. I like warm weather, so I get grumpy about the end of summer — the short days, being cold, all the plants dying. But I don’t get so grumpy that I can’t enjoy a trip to a pumpkin patch with a gaggle of three-year olds and their siblings on a beautiful autumn day.
All the kids and parents from David’s school gathered at the entrance of the farm and waited for a tractor to come take us to the pumpkin patch. Remember when I mentioned how much David loves holding things in his hands? We’d been there just a few minutes and David found this little pumpkin. He lifted it from some display and carried it around with him the whole time.
We went to Lloyd Family Farms, which also happens to be home to a bunch of national champion Paso Fino ponies.
Excuse my while I geek out on horses for a second. I grew up around horses, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Paso Fino in real life. Paso Finos are really cute, gaited ponies. Even though I’ve ridden my share of gaited horses (Tennesee Walkers, specifically) Paso Finos were different. The trainer gave us a little presentation and it was really, really cool. I talked to him for a while, trying to ask questions that made it sound like I knew what I was talking about. He was really nice, gave me a card, and invited me back for lessons. Thank you, sir, but this big mama doesn’t look too great on a 14-hand pony.
Instead, I’ll just stand at the rail with my baby girl and dream.
While Mary Virginia and I were dreaming about horses, Caleb and David climbed on the golf cart as if IT was the main attraction. Boys, is the golf cart doing a perfect Paso Corto around the arena? I didn’t think so.
I was actually really impressed with this pumpkin patch experience. They had a beautiful farm, lots of animals to look at, and we even got to pick our pumpkins off the vine. Not that I’m a pumpkin patch expert or anything. In fact, I think this is my first trip ever to a pumpkin patch. There’s a chance that, after reading that sentence, my mom is sitting somewhere picking her jaw off the floor, in utter horror that I’ve forgotten all the family trips we took to pumpkin patch. The only place I remember ever getting pumpkins a ceramic store in Boones Mill that filled its parking lot all the way to the highway with pumpkins. There’s a chance that this isn’t my first trip to a pumpkin patch, but it is the first I remember.
This is my friend Britton. Lots of the parents of the kids in David’s class happen to be my friends, which is nice. Especially on field trip days.
Britton took the next two photos.
This is me in total mom-of-two mode: book bag, umbrella stroller, sensible shoes. David is still clutching his pumpkin.
I brought the umbrella stroller along because I thought it would help with Mary Virginia. And it did. Mary Virginia sat in the stroller, content, for extended periods of time. The problem was when I took her out of the thing. She became hysterical. We rode in wagons pulled by tractors from place to place around the farm, and when we got on the wagon I had to take her out of the stroller and fold it up. She was so upset that, at one point, the teacher asked me if I needed a first aid kit. She was crying so hard that the teacher assumed she’d been hurt. No, I explained, she’s crying because I took her out of the stroller. And then he entire wagon full of people went, “OH! Now it makes sense. That’s a totally logical reason to scream like a maniac at the pumpkin patch.”
It was Britton, actually, who finally got her to calm down, when she gave Mary Virginia a grape from her sons’ lunch.
And so, when the tractor stopped at the pumpkin patch, Mary Virginia sat smugly in her stroller eating a snack while the rest of the children ran around looking for pumpkins.
David held onto that tiny pumpkin until he found one off the vine, then he dropped it and we never saw it again.
Two pumpkin pickers in plaid. Discussing the weather, erosion, and Paso Finos.
Really beautiful photos Amanda!! I’m itching to go to a patch. I too, have never been to a patch. Is that grammatical? Should it be, “I neither, have been to a pumpkin patch?” That can’t be right. But “too” and “never” don’t seem like they should go together. ANYWAY. This makes me want to go even more. Anyway, your photo-taking skills are en fuego right now!
I said anyway twice. Really struggling here today.
so much to reply to. first, when commenting on my blog please make sure your posts are free of grammatical errors BEFORE publishing. ok? i don’t have time to edit your comments, meredith!
for real though, thanks for the compliments about the photos. you have a sharp eye — since our camera was stolen, we got a refurbished D7000. this was my first time ever using it, and i had a lot of trouble with focus, so there are a lot of outtakes. we actually ended up sending it back (long story) and are waiting for the next step. i miss having a nice camera!
you always have the most beautiful pics!! Seems like such a fun time!!
you all are just too cute! I’m glad you were able to manage with the kiddos.