The Pumpkin Patch

Well, after much thought, very, very, very much thought, I chose to go to the pumpkin patch with Joshua instead of going to JCT's preschool fall party. It was quite possibly the most difficult decision that I have ever made!! But, a good friend, who is like an aunt to my sons, volunteered to go with JCT to his party.



And, after all I couldn't give up a chance to watch the drama of Princess M and the kindergarten love triangle unfold right before my eyes. . .



And, in that regard, after spending a day watching Joshua's class there is little to report. They all played together happily. There was no drama. Although, Cutie C's mother did tell me that Cutie C had pegged my son as her future mate. It is the age old drama of "we always want the ones that we cannot have." Princess M loves Jack, and while Jack is oblivious my Joshua adores Princess M. Cutie C loves Joshua, and while he is oblivious, undoubtedly someone is heartbroken over Cutie C and she too is oblivious. . . I can almost hear Desperado playing in the background. . . "Why don't you come to your senses. . ."



Anyway, enough of all that! This post is about the pumpkin patch! We had a blast!! I had the wonderful opportunity of bonding with two of my children yesterday. Joshua, obviously, I bonded with by being present at his field trip. And, Erik Daniel, I bonded with as I carried him in the baby bjorn for four hours, yes, four hours without sitting down or taking him off even to nurse him. (I fed him a pumped bottle while standing around watching Joshua's class eat lunch.) But, it was so fun, incredibly exhausting, but fun!



First, the kids played putt putt golf. I kept having to remind many of Joshua's classmates that this was not baseball, it was putt putt golf, and the balls were not supposed to become projectiles, the balls were to stay on the ground. But, inevitably, a few minutes later another golf ball would come flying two inches from Erik Daniel's sweet head. Here is a picture of Joshua playing putt putt (he later said this was his favorite part of the day). . .




Next, his class moved to the petting zoo. I have issues with petting zoos, but I set my issues aside and entered the petting zoo with my son and his class. Apparently, my son has issues with petting zoos, too, because he spent most of his time walking around looking at the animals and little time actually petting them. Thank You, Jesus. But, this child, whoever's son he is, had no issues whatsoever with touching, what is in my opinion, quite possibly the dirtiest and scariest of all the farm animals at the petting zoo.




Princess M, much like me, preferred the more domesticated animals at the petting zoo. Here she is with a cute little fuzzy bunny.



And, here is Joshua's buddy, Eli. He is a little Godsend. They are both a little on the quiet side (at least in large groups :-)), and they became instant buddies this year!



And, here they are petting a baby goat. . .




After the petting zoo, we headed indoors to let the children play in a room full of inflatables!! I took several pictures of Joshua jumping and sliding, but the room was too dark for my pictures to turn out very well.



Next, the kids played on the playground, and then ate lunch.



After lunch, we loaded up on a big tractor trailer and headed out to the pumpkin patch! But, we had one stop on the way. . .



We stopped at a catfish pond to feed the fish.




And, then it was off to find the best pumpkin in the patch!!


Joshua with his pumpkin. . .


Joshua's class with their pumpkins. . .


It is a "Reed" Sandwich!




I think the thing that stuck out the most to me today was a thought I had during lunch. All six of the kindergarten classes ate together side by side, class by class. And, as I stood there watching all the children, teachers, and parents, I couldn't help thinking that one day we would sit together at graduation. We live in a small town. There is little inflow and outflow here. Most of the families have roots in this community that go back several generations. Thus, few of Joshua's classmates will move away before graduation. As I watched Joshua play earlier that day, I talked to the parents of the other kindergartners. Many of them are already my friends, and many I got to know quite well yesterday. We are a club of sorts, the parents of the kindergartners. And, eventually I will belong to 4 such clubs. I will become intimately acquainted with these families over the years as we raise our children side by side. It moved me to think these things, to imagine Joshua graduating one day, and to imagine a picture of Joshua, Reed, and Princess M. in their caps and gowns.

No doubt, it was a day well spent.