The Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to Jakers, the local pumpkin patch that we go to every year. This year they had added some new things, and it was a lot of fun. The kids had a blast. The only downside was that their dad wasn't there this year. We missed him lots, so we took a bunch of pictures.

I thought Autumn looked super cute and fall-ish for school today, so I snapped a shot:

At the entrance:

 The slides. They loved how fast these were and that they landed in a big pit of corn:

 Baby on the hay bales:

Climbing on top of the maze: 

 This year they had a big kid maze and a little kid maze. They loved both. The big kid maze was really tall, so they could run around and get lost in it. The smaller one, they could climb on top and look at it overhead. Both were a hit.

 The "climbing wall":

 Pretty view:

The big pit filled with dried corn:

 Calvin making a "corn angel"

 Then we took a hay ride. This was my favorite part of the day:

 Darling little faces that I adore.

 I LOVE this picture. After lying in the corn pit, Nicky had three kernels of corn and some straw clutched in his little fist. He would not let them go.

 View from the tractor

 See the creepy driver? He had a mask like the Scream mask, but it was made of burlap. He would follow the kids around and freak them out. After the ride, he came up to Calvin and started pulling on his face, gently stretching his eyes and cheeks, etc. Calvin looked really apprehensive, but didn't stop him. Autumn screamed and ran every time she saw him. When we were leaving, I watched him take out a pocket knife and make the throat cutting gesture at a 10/11 year old girl. I thought that was a bit much. Overall though, he was a spooky, fun addition to the pumpkin patch.

Also, see the pretty rainbow? It sprinkled the whole time we were there, and this was the lovely result.

 On top of the world:

They had a cute petting zoo with half a dozen little animals. The kids' favorite was this ginormous pig. I fear he's going to escape and eat a child:

When it was raining so much that the baby was soaked, and I was worried the kids were going to get sick, we picked out our pumpkins. Of course, as soon as we were ready to leave, the rain stopped again, but we had been there for a while and the kids were ready to go.

Calvin hauling the stash to the car:

Cute kids, proud of their pumpkins:

We were freezing, so we went to the nearby Wendy's and got warm cheeseburgers and chili to take home. The kids were excited and devoured every bite. On the way back, we passed a six-car accident that we must have barely missed. It was right by the entrance to the pumpkin patch we had left less than ten minutes earlier. I was thankful that we'd missed it.

All the way home, the kids kept saying how much fun it had been and how much they'd loved the patch and loved their pumpkins. It was one of those days that it was good to be a mom.

But then it was good to be home in the warm house, just hanging out: