pumpkin day

We had a wonderful day at the Great Pumpkin Patch in Hayden, Alabama. Today was their opening day and the crowd was made up largely of people like us--parents of toddlers who couldn't wait to see their little ones walking around a pumpkin patch and so went to the first one in the area to open. I plan for us to visit several of them, but maybe not to bring home a pumpkin every time. We got a nice one today, though!

First we met Dave, Ellen, & Chloe in Hoover and all piled into their van. The kids thought it was fun to have a carseat buddy and they leaned forward in their seats so that they could see and talk to each other. This was great until Chloe tossed down her zoo book and Ellen handed it to Dennis. Chloe was furious, yelling "BOOK!" and "Mommy, Book!" and "ME!!!!", but she ended up having to wait her turn. Her Mommy tried to bribe her with a soft crinkly book instead but she was having none of that! She got the zoo book next and Ellen handed Dennis the soft book, and wouldn't you know it, THAT was the one she REALLY wanted, she didn't mean to throw it down like that, and didn't it just look SO interesting now that Dennis was reading it? After the book wars, they were just being funny, trying out their words together, making animal sounds, calling "Ma-ma", and then speaking in the language that the rest of us couldn't understand. Dennis pointed out every truck on the road to all of us, and eventually they fell asleep.

We arrived at the pumpkin patch and went straight for the hayride. We had the bright idea to bring the wagon this time, which worked very well for Chloe and the pumpkins, but Dennis kept attempting to climb out of it. He didn't try to climb out of the hayride, thank goodness, but held on to David's backpack and camera bag strap for dear life! He loved the Hay Maze (for kids, so it didn't mean any scary trapped moments for us as it posed no difficulty even to toddlers...), and he loved running all over the pumpkin garden. He and Chloe played in the dirt, tripped over the vines, played in more dirt, sat on various pumpkins, ran gleefully for seconds before they tripped again... It was mayhem, but it certainly was cute. No one got hurt, but we brought some dirt home with us for sure. We chose our pumpkins and rode back while Dennis watched the tractor pulling us in fascination. Chloe liked looking out at the sunflowers planted by the hundreds along the route. So beautiful!

Next up was the petting zoo, which Dennis liked very much. He petted the goats and saw a llama and lamb, and he wanted very much to pet the chickens and turkeys, but since we like all ten of his fingers the way they are, we discouraged this. He got very excited about the large trough of water at the entrance and David intercepted him just as he was about to plunge his hands in as deep as they would go. The petting zoo provided hand sanitizer at the exit, so Dennis had to content himself with that instead of splashing himself clean. Chloe was enjoying looking at the animals until I moved the wagon a couple of inches and she saw. She came running over to get back in before it left her! So her Daddy pulled her along in the wagon to see the rest of the animals.

We enjoyed a snack (funnel cake!) and beverages and then a little Tacky Souvenir Shopping before we left. Dennis got a pumpkin spinner flashlight and loved the fact that he could turn it on and off by himself. He walked around and around with it, and as his Daddy was paying for it, he took off out of the building. I called out to ask if we'd paid for it or was Dennis shoplifting, and Dennis heard me. He ran back inside and tried to hand the toy back to the cashier! I had no idea he knew this concept... We assured him it was his, so he commenced playing with it pretty much until we got back in the van and he went to sleep. He didn't discover the real joy of it until after sunset, when he really got to see it light up the darkness. And the most fun part about it? Setting it down on the hardwood floor to hear the very loud vibration noise it makes while it's spinning. He put it in his playhouse and then kept opening the door to peek in at it (on and spinning away, of course) and then closing it and listening to the noise. So funny, our little scientist.

He was his own person today. He wanted to decide where to walk (run, actually) and resisted our efforts to contain him. He was very lively at dinner tonight and left the biggest mess he's ever made at a restaurant. He smeared food all over the table, himself, and me, and he yelled and screeched and giggled and was just generally obnoxious. It was a stressful meal, and it made me realize that I forgot to enjoy and savor our dinner out without him last night. "Dennis, that's Mommy's plate." "Dennis, thank you for grabbing my fork and throwing it onto the floor." "Dennis, let go of your plate." "Dennis, that's Mommy's drink." "Dennis, stop throwing all your food on the floor!" Chloe had a couple of tantrums as well because all she wanted to eat at the all-you-can-eat-buffet was the clip attached to her high chair strap (ewww). I had intended to get dessert (from the buffet), but since they weren't offering a hot-fudge-and-xanax-sundae, I declined. We walked quickly out to the cars, with me ducking my head in shame about the mess on the floor and hoping a $5 tip (plus what Dave added) would put a dent in the anger of the poor server assigned to our table. Honey would have loved being under that table tonight.

We are home now, sleepy, worn out, cranky... But we made some fun memories today, and we have a very nice pumpkin to begin our Halloween decorating.