Picking, Kissing, and Stealing Pumpkins

Jeff & I took Henry to the pumpkin patch on Sunday. We went to a place called Lakeview Farms. All of the kids in my class told me that Lakeview Farms is the best pumpkin patch around. We happened to go on what turned out to be their busiest day of the year. It was a beautiful sunny day, and apparently everyone else within a 20 mile radius thought it would be the perfect day for a trip to the pumpkin patch. We were directed to pull into a very full parking area. We had to navigate the stroller over what appeared to be a field that had already been harvested, but was now just rows of dirt. Not the easiest terrain for pushing a stroller, but our Jeep stroller pulled through for us. We made our way to the big barn, where we found a Disneyland-like line. We had to wait in line to buy tickets for the boat that would take us across a lake to the pumpkin patch, and a train that would bring us back. Once we got our tickets, we waited in another line to get on the boat. The boat line took about 45 minutes, during which time Jeff wondered about the safety regulations governing the pumpkin patch boats. Once we arrived at the pumpkin patch area, we made our way into the middle of the pumpkin patch, where we set Henry free to roam around. He had a great time walking around the big pumpkins and sitting on the dirty ground playing with the pumpkin vines. We picked out some good pumpkins and took a bunch of pictures, but the bright sun made it difficult to get good pictures of Henry. He didn't want to look up into the sun, and therefore most of the pictures show Henry looking down at the ground. It didn't take long for Henry to get hot and tired, so we started to head over to the the train area. On our way we passed a mom taking pictures of her adorable little boy (probably 2 years old) kissing his pumpkin, a pony riding area, and another exremely long line of people (waiting for the train). Before I could say it, Jeff suggested that we skip the train and walk back. We began the long trek back to the barn to pay for our pumpkins. On the way back to the barn, we approached the parking lot. Again, before I could say it out loud, Jeff asked a great question. "Do you think we should just leave without paying for the pumpkins?" Afterall, we were already at our car. We had paid for the train ride that we didn't take. Henry was hot and tired. We were hungry. There were a many reasons that seemed to make it o.k. to take the pumpkins. So we did. We left without paying for our pumpkins. Yes, we stole four pumpkins. I realize we did not set a very good example for our son, but Henry is too young to realize that we'd committed a heinous Halloween crime. As we left with our stolen pumpkins, we talked about how next year Henry would enjoy the train ride. Next year he'd probably have fun picking out a pumpkin. Jeff said "maybe next year we can get Henry to kiss a pumpkin for a picture." Maybe. And maybe next year we'll pay for our pumpkins.




If you want to see more pumpkin patch pictures, click on "Pumpkin Patch Pictures" in the Links section to the right.