Ah, the Pumpkin Patch. Every year I force - I mean cajole - no gather up my family and spirit them away to Underwood Family Farms for a day at the Pumpkin Patch. Every year, Maddie is a crankster; this year was no exception. She spent half of the time complaining that the sun was too bright, and the other half whining that her back hurt. I have no idea when she became my crotchety 90-year old great aunt Mabel, but there you have it. Maybe it was the fact that we paid over $25 just to get in that put her in a bad mood, but surely the mini John Deere tractor ride should have cured her. I keep trying to tell myself that my calves are not really that big and white. It must be the angle of the camera, the position I'm sitting in or the midday glare, right?
The Corn Maze
The corn maze was particularly difficult this year. It was much larger than usual, and I was worried not about our ability to find the giant haystack at the end, but whether or not we would make it out at all. I don't know if you can see the Asian lady in the bottom left corner of the picture of the maze, but I believe that part of the maze was actually in China. Please note that Baby Fi is wearing THE pumpkin patch sweater, on loan from Annie Blomquist. Isn't it perfect? So what if it was 85 degrees! Doesn't she look so autumnal?
The Tractor Ride
My favorite part of the Pumpkin Patch trip is the tractor ride. They pull you around the farm in a giant wooden sided wagon with about 50 other people, but it really is quite peaceful. The putt-putt of the tractor engine as it bounces around the dirt road that surrounds the farm adds a soothing ambience to the crops of sunflowers, pumpkins, and peppers. Plus, you're in black and white, so there isn't all of that over stimulating color to contend with. I think that my most relaxed 12 minutes of the year are on this tractor pull.
Old Tractors
What more is there to say besides after seeing these, Pat and I have been on a mission to find a really old tractor to park in our front side yard and use as a giant planter.
The Haystack
Go ahead; play Where's Maddie?
The Actual Patch
Do you think I could get $2 for my little sugar pumpkin?
I was really surprised by how much Fi enjoyed sitting amongst the pumpkins. She would roll them around, pick them up, hit them...I guess it's a lot like being in a giant field of dirt and orange balls. Mmmm, baby heaven.
Tractor Girls
The Walnut Grove
The Pumpkin Patch/ Harvest Festival is held at a real working farm, so it stands to reason that the overflow parking is located in a grove of walnut trees. These were the last pics of the day that we took as we were leaving. Gee, Maddie's in a great mood now. What a shock.
2 comments:
Hey steph..in case it doesn't say my name, this is Veronica J. I was just wondering...did you guys ever get out of the corn maze??? Because we were not so successful!!! We were making fun of the people coming out the entrance when we were going in, and then we ended up doing the same thing!!!
Yes! Once you found the hay pyramid, the exit was about 10 feet away. After 15 minutes or so, I figured we might as well go for it, since we had just as good a chance of finding the end as we did of finding the beginning. It was a triumphant moment!
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