PumpkinFest

As I mentioned previously, the weather is cooling down. Fall is upon us. My favorite season.

I've been getting an itch to do something festive.

As a kid, I remember raking leaves as they fell off the trees. I remember putting them in jack-o-lantern bags. I remember picking out costumes for Halloween. I remember decorative cookies at school and at home. I remember apple pies and pumpkin pies. I remember carving pumpkins. I remember wearing corduroy and doing things outside before the snow fell. I remember my mom and dad doing their best to make every moment special - to make every season into a memory.

I want this for Ammely too.

So I just couldn't say no when I saw a great deal on Groupon for this bad-boy:

With all of the memories I DO have from this season, I don't recall ever going to a Pumpkin Patch. And I've never been through a corn maze. But I've wanted to. In fact, the corn maze is on my bucket list.

So we invited along some fellow fall-loving, fun-having people and headed out to make some memories.

Now, I've never been to an event quite like this before so maybe it was not as great as others (if so, I apologize for the invite Belle and Kent!), but I didn't have anything to compare it to and I thought it was great fun!

There were loads of things to do! Well...at least there are loads of things to do if you're under ten.
But still, loads of fun for ALL.

We had a pony ride!

She's going to be the next big thing -- look at that, standing in her saddle!

We settled in ( or squeezed in) and had a train ride!

 

*You may notice that Ammely is not exactly awake on the return ride. Haha.*

We enjoyed the petting zoo!

There were even bouncy houses! Yes, multiple bouncy houses. The fearless, fun-loving Metcalf boys took advantage of those with no hesitation.

It took our little girl a bit more convincing.
We put her inside.
And she cried.

We put her inside again.
And she cried.

So mommy went in.

And then we watched the fun.

And then, at long last, we had fun too.

From the bounce houses, we went straight to the corn maze. It was a must-do. But truly a little intimidating.

Thankfully, we had expert navigators.

Sure, they look a little on the young and small side to be leading our pack through a towering corn maze.
But don't let them fool you.

Without them, we adults would have just stood at every crossroads, scratching our heads and wailing in despair.

But WITH them, with them there was no stopping us.

"Come on, right this way."

They knew all the tricks. You just had to do things like dodge a few husks.

And you could never give up - not even in the face of a dead-end or a tricky circle path.

I'm confident that it was only because we had these leaders that we were able to eventually emerge from the maze. They are the only reason I was able to check an item off my bucket list and get this picture to prove it.

Thank you Daniel and Levi. Thank you.

After the corn maze we said good-bye to the Metcalfs (they had lots of celebrating to do - it was Samuel's birthday!) and headed off to pick our pumpkins.

It was maybe a little hot. But not too bad.
Ammely was maybe a little tired. But not too bad.
Ammely was maybe a little sick. But not too bad. 

All-in-all, I deem this a success.

The baby slept exceptionally well that evening (not to be confused with that night).

But that's okay because that evening we actually shipped her off to a babysitter - and who doesn't love to watch a sleeping baby? Easy peasy.

And I got to scratch my fall festivity itch.