To the Pumpkin Patch We Go

One of the great things about living in Little Rock, is all of the family activities that go on here and how accessible they are. We are literally minutes from lakes, hiking trails, parks, and farms that host myriads of events for kids. Last Fall, as we watched the leaves begin to turn, I wanted so badly to take Daniel to the pumpkin patch. As a scrapbooker, I had a pumpkin themed layout already planned in my head and was determined to capture the most adorable pictures of my son amidst a countless array of pumpkins. My in-laws had planned a visit for the end of October and I hoped they would join us for our pumpkin patch extravaganza. Weeks and weeks went by but I was determined to make this a memory for all of us, so we postponed our trip to the pumpkin patch until Nana and Tata arrived. The weekend they were with us, we loaded up the car and drove out to the pumpkin patch only to find that the rain we'd had the previous week had flooded the entire farm and the pumpkin patch was closed. Gritting my teeth, I got back in the car and we turned around to head home- no pumpkin patch, no pictures, no memories...

This year, I was not about to let the same thing happen. So, this morning, we made another attempt to go to the pumpkin patch. Scrapbooking page still in mind, I grabbed the camera, made sure the memory card was cleared, and out the door we went. Anyone, however, who knows our son, knows that when we get him to a public place like that-especially one geared towards kids his age- he becomes completely schizophrenic. We could not get him to sit still or look directly at the camera to save our lives. We spent the entire visit saying, "Daniel, stop." Daniel, look." "Daniel, smile!". But, alas, Daniel found the dirt, rocks, and sticks lying on the ground decidedly more interesting than the pumpkins themselves. The only consolation was that we heard similar phrases from the mouths of EVERY other parent there. There were a lot of frustrated scrapbookers at the pumpkin patch today.

All in all, we did have a really great time. Daniel loved the hayride, the petting zoo, the pig races, and picking out his very own pumpkin, which I'm fairly certain outweighs him by about 15 lbs. Daniel especially loved being outdoors and we certainly didn't mind spending some time out on a day like today- sunny and 70 degrees (we know all of our friends and family back home are jealous...isn't it supposed to drop down into the mid-nineties for you this week?). It was a great day...and we even managed to get a few pictures.