Pumpkin Patch 2012

Once again we subjected ourselves to the allergy-inducing fun of hay and farm animals and picking out our pumpkins during what is becoming an annual migration to the pumpkin patch. It was no good for our snot production, but bright, sunny days of playing outside rarely are. We do it anyway.

We jumped and slid down the big slides so many times that my legs felt more like noodles than legs.

Luke and Jake

We fed and petted the animals. The goats are still our favorite because they are just so personable - sticking their heads through the bars, beckoning us to come baaaaack with our little cups of goodness.

Ella wanted to bring a baby goat home.
We told her we don't have enough grass in our backyard to sustain one.

The sheep also put on quite a show of head butting each other and Luke, too, which he thought was hilarious. He kept sidling up to their pen with his head down, trying to get them to do it again.

Luke made new friends.

 Sometimes we acted like animals.

Baby Monkey

Of course, we rode the ponies. This was Luke's first time to get on a horse. He was excited. Dave walked beside him in case he started channeling his inner circus performer and trying to trick ride like the guys at the Dixie Stampede.

They have agreed that they will ride their horses
hanging upside down when they grow up, but this will do for now.

We took our annual mom-and-kids-walking-in-the-pumpkin-patch picture. It required more effort this time because the patch was crowded and the "wittle one" is 2 - thus, not on program.

Look how we've grown since last year.

We picked our pumpkins. Ella gave up her quest for the smallest pumpkin of all time this year and opted for a big one because she wanted to make a jack-o-lantern. She had convinced herself that she couldn't carry this pumpkin until we walked away to help Luke find his. Then the worry that someone else might come along and get it told her otherwise, and she picked it up and hauled it down the row after us.

Ella's prize pumpkin.

Luke originally picked a really big pumpkin, but his need to do all things himself won over his need for a giant pumpkin, so he settled for one he could carry. Also, all pumpkins are now known as "pumpkin patches." For example, "I wanna see my pumpkin patch, Mama!"

Luke's pumpkin patch.

Dave waited until Wednesday to carve them so they will last through Halloween. He ventured into spooky territory with the jagged smiley one, but no one seemed worried about it this year. Upon seeing their glowing faces on our back porch, the children felt compelled to name them. They chose their names on their own with no influence from us.

Meet Lighty and Ella Grace.

Halloween Preview

I am not making the kids' costumes for Halloween this year. It makes me a little sad, but I'm also giving myself a break. It's been a busy year, it's still a busy fall, so it's nice not to worry about finishing the costumes in time.

Also, the Costume Express people sent us a magazine and the little monkeys have been studying that thing like it's the Sears Wish Book. Ella has changed her costume five hundred and twenty-two times in the past month. I promised her that I would take her to the store to pick out a costume instead of ordering from the catalog, that way she gets that she can't change her mind once it's bought. As of the day before we went to Target, she was going to be a waterslide.

She ultimately picked out a mermaid costume. I guess she had already scoped it out because she went straight to it and grabbed it off the shelf. Unfortunately, the Ariel one didn't fit as well as I needed it to, so we opted for a generic mermaid. She has already asked me to put Ariel on it, so I will. I also promised her that we would Kool-Aid-dye her hair red for the occasion.

This morning she told me that next Halloween she is going to be Clarabelle Cow in the pool of gurgling bubbles - straight from the episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse they watched this morning. I already know how I would make that, but by then she will have chosen something else.




We decided for Luke, and he enthusiastically agreed, that he will be a football player. When we were at the Whistle Stop festival a couple of weeks ago, he dressed up as a football player and had his picture taken. He loved it so much that he melted into a tantrum when we finally got the helmet off of him and walked away from the tent.

Since then, he's been playing football in the evenings and wearing a t-shirt on his head - face stuck through the neck hole, t-shirt hanging around his head and shoulders like a nun's head covering - as a helmet. When Dave realized that he was pretending the t-shirt was a helmet, he suggested we get him a football player costume for Halloween.

We ventured down the Target Halloween aisle and there was not a single football player costume to be found. Dave found a youth helment in the sporting goods section but it was too heavy for Luke's little neck. Then, searching all around for an alternative (And seriously, there are no dress up clothes for boys. Why? There's a crap load of princess dresses, but not a single thing for boys except at Halloween.), we found a little Alabama helmet and jersey deal in a box. We broke that bad boy open to see if the helmet was lighter than the real one. It was. The jersey is for kids 5 - 9 years old, so it will be huge on him, but that means there's room for adding some fake shoulder pads.

So, my Roll Tide, football obsessed kid is going to be an

Alabama football player for Halloween, further solidifying the world's belief that we are the most die-hard Alabama fans on the planet. Seriously, he calls all football "Roll Tide". He named his own football Roll Tide. He runs around saying "Roll Tide! Alabama!" all.the.time.

He loves his helmet and wears it most of the time when we are at home. He wore it in the car, all the way home from the store. I thought he would try to sleep in it the first night. I think he's going to love his costume.