Down on the Farm

Going to the pumpkin farm this year made me just a wee bit melancholy.

You see, we have gone to the same pumpkin patch since Molly was a year old. We rode the same hay ride, petted the same goats, stuck our heads through the same scarecrow cut-outs, ate the same kettle corn, and took a picture by the How Tall This Fall sign.

It’s the How Tall This Fall sign that really got to me. No picture by the How Tall This Fall sign to add to the collection this year. The end of an era—okay it was a very short era—but it’s still the end.

I had to settle for a picture by the fireplace instead. Just not the same. Boo Hoo.

Determined not to wallow in pity, we selected a new farm to visit and headed out with anticipation and enthusiasm. Most of the enthusiasm was displayed by Molly. She’s like that, you know. Makes me wish I was five again.

So we arrive at the farm and step up to an admission booth. Admission booth? Our old farm was FREE. This farm cost $9. Each. Regardless of age. Do the math—that’s $27 just to get in the gate!

Once inside, the farm had some of the same things our old farm had. There were cut-out pictures that we could put our heads through…

…and some fun little things to play on like this barrel swing.

They had this big bouncy bubble thing that was pretty fun. For a five year old.Not so much for a forty-seven year old. But Molly didn’t mind jumping by herself for a bit while I looked for some Dramamine.

Molly got to ride the cow train.

And pose for some more pictures in cut outs.

We found our way through the corn maze. We picked the kid version instead of the adult one. The kid’s maze had alphabet letters to help you get out.Good thing because with my sense of direction, it would have taken us week to find our way out of the bigger one.

We took the hay ride….

….that got us to the pumpkin patch.For 27 bucks one would think that you would get a free pumpkin or something, right? Nope. Pony up another 8 bucks for a pumpkin.

Still more to do! Molly played at the playground…

And visited the animals.

One final stop at the water pumps. You pump water and make your rubber ducky swim to the end of the trough. Now that’s worth the price of admission right there. (note the sarcasm).

They say the best things in life are free. I’d say they are exactly right, at least when it comes to pumpkin patches. Our old pumpkin patch didn’t cost a penny (well except for the modestly priced pumpkins) and was way more fun. It was more farm and less amusement park. And it had a How Tall This Fall sign.

Oh well, live and learn. Next year we’ll try a different place.

The important thing, I guess, is that Molly did have fun at the new pumpkin farm. And we did come home with a $35 pumpkin. Just saying!

The Family Visits Our New Home

My family drove half way across the country to visit us in our new home. They spent a week with us. Before my Dad walked out the door on the last day he said, “I can’t wait to get home and read the blog post about my visit!”

Talk about pressure.

Well I didn’t get the post up by the time you got home, Dad. I was too busy cleaning the mess you all left trying to get back into our normal routine to crank out a post that fast.

But hey, it’s been less than a week since you left, so that’s not too bad. So here it is, Dad. The Great Big Family Visit post:

Since the day we moved into our new home, my parents have been itching to visit. Did they miss their daughter so much that they couldn’t stand it? Were they interested to see their beloved daughter’s new domicile? Were they just dying to visit the Midwest?

Nope.

They came for one reason, and one reason only:Molly.

Oh sure, they tried to make it seem like they had other motives, but the truth is they came to see Molly. It was totally transparent. Did they shower me, their baby daughter, with love? Did they oooh and ahhh over the house? Did they marvel at the splendor of autumn in the Midwest?

No.

But they did shower Molly with love. They did oooh and aaah over every single thing she did. They did marvel at the splendor of my daughter.

Yeah, yeah. They paid lip service to the former, but it was the latter that they were really here for. See:

Molly was around my parents nonstop and they loved every.single.minute.

I know my parents love me and were glad to see me and my house, but I also know where I rate in the pecking order. And it ain’t numero uno. Not any more.

I can live with that because the person who now tops their list also tops mine!

Basically my daughter ditched me for the week so she could hang with grandma and grandpa, and grandma and grandpa ditched me for Molly. You might think this was a lose-lose for me.

Wrong-o!

Because my parents weren’t the only ones who made this trip. My sister came to visit me too! I love my sister so very much. And she doesn’t ditch me for the cute little pig-tailed princess.So while my parents were loving on Molly, Michelle and I were going shopping and hanging out and doing other sisterly things. All without the munchkin. Kind of a win-win, if you ask me!

Don’t get me wrong, Molly was able to woo my sister away for a quick game of Candyland while I cooked dinner. Her powers are strong. But I always got my sister back.

Ryan was such a trooper. Not much for him to do here. No kids his age. Not a lot of great sights to interest him, but he never complained. He played with Molly, kept himself occupied on the computer and went to see a few local attractions.

I came to realize on this visit that my little baby nephew is not such a baby anymore. In fact, he just turned 14. It doesn’t seem possible! He wasn’t even a year old at my wedding, and now he’s all grown up. *sniff sniff*

We gave Ryan an impromptu birthday celebration while he was visiting. There were presents…

and a cake with 14 candles.

Unfortunately he had to suffer through the pink napkins and silverware and butterfly birthday plates. It’s all I had on hand. Not to macho, I know, but he didn’t seem to mind. I mean who is gonna complain about cake and presents, right?

At least he was surrounded by his family.

Before I knew it the week was over and the family was packing the car to go back home. Grandma and Grandpa got a last little bit of sugar from their number one.

And the whole family gathered for one last photo op. Except for Tony. Because he took the picture.

Mom, Dad, Michelle and Ryan made it home safe and sound and everything is getting back to normal around here. Well almost. Molly informed me today that she loves Grandma and Grandpa more than me.

I get no respect, I tell ya!

Hope you had fun while you were here family! Miss you! Come back soon. Well not too soon. I need time to win back my daughter’s heart.

What the Heck?

Our last house was surrounded by trees. Great big deciduous trees. Trees that dropped all of their leaves every autumn. And all of those leaves needed to be raked and bagged. By me. And Tony. But mostly me.

Imagine my joy when we purchased a home that had coniferous trees. No leaves to rake or bag. I was giddy just thinking about all of the time that I would have this fall now that we owned a home with evergreens!

I just love that word. Evergreen. Break it down: Ever Green. As in NEVER orange or yellow or red or brown. And  never shedding leaves that needed raking. Or Bagging.

Or so I thought.

Much to my horror, Autumn arrived and my beautiful conifers started dropping needles. Lots and lots of needles. Acidic needles that will kill the grass if they are not.…RAKED and BAGGED!

What the heck is up with that? Don’t they understand the concept of EVER GREEN?

I was almost ready to put our new house back on the market, but then I found this:Children who actually thought it was fun to rake and bag. Children who were thrilled at the prospect of doing this oh-so-tedious chore. Heck three out of four of them weren’t even my kids but they willingly raked their ever-lovin’ hearts out and then thanked me for the opportunity!

All they asked for in return was to be able to do this:

And this:Small price to pay  to have someone else do the raking. And bagging. Next year maybe I can even talk them into carrying the bags to the curb. Hmmmm.

Yep, life is good at our new home.

Make New Friends But Keep the Old

Remember that old song from Girl Scouts? Well, since we moved to a new town, we’ve been living it. Our neighbors behind us have seven kids and our next door neighbors have a little boy Molly’s age.

But that’s not all. Now that Molly has started Kindergarten we have met lots of kids in the neighborhood, all within walking distance. It’s a dream come true for our little socialite.

Molly hasn’t always been this social. Sure, she’s always had friends but there was an obvious change in her that happened around five. Friends became extremely important.

She would rather be playing with friends than anything else in the world. It even nudges out princesses. *gasp*

Of course, if her friends want to play princess, she’s not one to argue!

Here’s Molly and her best buddy Max. Max and Molly are in the same Kindergarten class and just love each other. She hasn’t talked him into playing princess…yet!

Molly, Max and Riley. Molly met Riley on the school bus. Who knew that the Kindergarten bus was a place to conduct social networking!

Of course, we can’t forget our old friends. We make the drive up to see them pretty regularly, too.

Here’s Alex, Molly and Abby eating giant slices of pizza on one of our recent trips. Frightening thing is, all three girls finished their slices…and are still as skinny as ever. I just looked at the pizza and my butt grew two sizes. So unfair!

Molly recently “made friends” with a new park in town and has proclaimed it her favorite! There’s a rope tower…

and this wacky thing that you stand on and lean…

…which causes you to spin around in nauseating circles. Only fun if you are a kid. Trust me, I tried it. Definitely not fun!

Molly was a little scared of this slide,and I can’t blame her. Umm, what happened to the sides?

But with a little help from Daddy, she soon had it mastered and is scared no more.

Playing bongos.

Swinging on monkey bars.

And sliding down poles.This park has it all.

I am sure we will be back to visit this new friend very often.