Pumpkin Patch, or what's left of it.

We went to the pumpkin patch. It was fun. The kids had fun, made messes, irritated people. It was normal.

Let me say this. I get it. It's nature. There's only a certain amount of control that the people running the farm have over what is in the patch when you get there. I'm not mad or anything. Just disappointed. They took us on a hay-wagon ride out to the far side of the universe to the worst pumpkin patch I've ever seen. It was as deep as the grand canyon and inhabited almost exclusively by rotten, cracked and half devoured pumpkins. When we finally did find some that was not already starting to grow mold they were huge. This was a pre-school field trip and the older kids happened to come along. So this is how it went. Gem and Teaser picked pumpkins they could barely lift and argued with me about them until they litterally almost dropped the pumpkins because their arms gave out at which time they stopped arguing and started trying to drop the slightly smaller ones I had found. Diablo ignored the small pumpkin I found after hiking back to the top of the grand canyon and noticing the small, sweetly round pumpkins on the plateau. But by golly we lugged 2 big pumpkins and one small one back to the wagon, then to the car, then to the porch. And yes, all the time Pudge was in the baby carrier.

Don't be fooled by the picture: It's not flat!

You want to see the close ups?

So I didn't manage to fit in any real exercise today but my biceps are rockin' after the pumpkin patch trip and my back is killing me.

It's easier without them

I'm taking my brood to a pumkin patch today. It is a field trip for Diablo's preschool. Her teacher scheduled it in the afternoon. That only bugs me because Teaser and Gem get out of school early today (and all week). That means instead of a nice, easy trip to the pumpkin patch I'm going to spend the afternoon telling Teaser to leave Diablo alone, giver her back whatever it is he'll take (and he will). I'll have to talk Gem out of getting the biggest pumpkin she can find. It means 4 pairs of boots will have to have the mud washed off of them instead of 2. It means I'll end up trying to figure out how to carry three pumpkins and Pudge at the same time.

To top it all off, it is cold and foggy out. We've been having such great weather. It picked today to turn ugly. Rain always puts me in the mood for soup. I haven't figured out yet what fog puts me in the mood for. Maybe it is cookies. Yes, chocolate chip cookies. Oh, wait. Everything puts me in the mood for chocolate chip cookies. Maybe it is casserole. Spaghetti?

On a happier note, it's just cold enough out to warrant a hat. Not for me, I look hideous in a hat. Gem, Teaser, Diablo and Pudge look adorable in hats. I'll concentrate on looking forward to that. Hats.