Pumpkins and good friends

We made our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch today after mass. It was a beautiful, sunny day.



We took a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch and then, the hunting began. Brian and Carson went looking for pumpkins while Brooke and I guarded our row of potential pumpkins. The vines were a little too hard for Brooke to navigate. She kept getting tripped up and the tall weeds were bothering her. She kept yelling for Carson and Daddy if they got too far away!

"I sit on the punkin."

The deliberation - as is tradition, Carson and Brian each selected their own pumpkin. Carson spent the rest of the day asking Brooke and I whose pumpkin was better. He's not competitive at all. Really.

They narrowed it down to 7 before making their selections. We consider pumpkin-selection to be a very serious process! But, once you choose - you're all in. No second-guessing!

A very nice young girl offered to take our family picture. So nice!

After we picked our pumpkins and rode the tractor again, we ate lunch/yummy snacks and discovered Brooke's fear of bees. The bees love the cider and she was really frightened of them buzzing around. She would bury her head in me and say no, no, no bees. They played in the giant haystack for a while before we left.

Before:

After:

We bought some apples and said farewell to the pumpkin patch until next year!

My good friend Heather, who lives in California, was in town this weekend! After the pumpkin patch, we spent the afternoon at the Houk's. Heather introduced Becky and I a long time ago, and the three of us girls have had several fun adventures over the years. Our families have become great friends and we're so blessed to have the Houk's and Perry's in our life.

Not long after we arrived, we snapped a photo of the girls, but then I put my camera down(sadly). Carson and Brooke are joined by the Houk kiddos - Caroline (3) and Winston, Truman and Theodore (15 months). Their sweet puppy Hank joins the fun, too. We always have fun spending time with these wonderful people and today was no exception. Brooke went without a nap today (too much fun to sleep!!!) and threw a huge fit - because Heather was leaving :). We missed you, Jay!