Finally, the search is over! After five years, we've finally found the perfect pumpkin patch! Pumpkin patches are like photographers. They are everywhere. There are so many to choose from and yet so little that are actually of good quality. And you never know whether you found the right one until after you try it. (A discussion of my annoyance of amateur/novice photographers who start their own business will be reserved for another post- do I sound bitchy? I've been feeling bitchy lately).
The last few years, our pumpkin patch adventures have been...less than satisfying. The one we went to last year was basically three rows of pumpkins sitting in the middle of a personal family junkyard. Although the kids did enjoy the beater tractors and the fact that chickens were running around everywhere. Unfortunately, all the pumpkins were on the verge of rotting. At least I got some great pictures. Including this gem:
And this one:
And this:
And, can't forget the owl boobies:
Anyway, the past can now be forgotten because we found the bestest of the best. And, the best part, it's only a short hour drive from home. In case you aren't in the "know," pumpkin patches are rarely just about pumpkins. Lucky for us, Maris Family Farms in Buckley, Washington offers so many activities that you almost need to go twice to do everything. They had the typical pumpkin patch activities such as a corn maze, hay ride, bouncy house, pumpkin slingshot, and face paint. But they also had a jump pillow (I had no idea what this was before our trip here), tube slides, pig races, goat feeding, petting zoo, zip lines, monster truck rides (yes, a REAL monster truck), camel rides, go-carts, pony rides, zombie paintball, and MORE! I was totally blown away by the awesomeness. The kids had so much fun! We were there for two hours and still didn't get to do everything.
My husband was not able to come today but we brought along plenty of cousins. This made for some very cute photo ops.
Kids and pumpkins. Nothing cuter!
He is such a ham. He has a pose for every photo.
He just wants it to stop so he can go kick some pumpkins. (As soon as we got to the pumpkins, Ryan ran right up to them and began to kick them furiously as if they were immovable soccer balls.)
A barrel full of cuteness! I seriously cannot handle all this cuteness. Is there a defibrillator nearby?
More Jacob poses.
We all enjoyed the jump pillow. Except Mommy's back is really feeling it today.
The slide was also fun and also made Mommy's back feel like it was cracking in half. (Seriously, I'm not even 30. What's wrong with me?!)
The bike-pedal powered go-karts were a huge hit!
But I had to bend down and push and steer Ryan. (My back seriously hates me).
Then there was this creepy man.
And I promise that this was a hay ride.
The next pictures are very very sad. The first one is from last year. When I saw it, big wet tears puddled up in my eyes. I miss that baby so much. I miss the smell of that baby. I miss the way that baby cuddled on my chest. I miss that baby's gummy smile. Motherhood is the saddest thing on the planet.
And this is that baby today. Gulp. Tear. Wipe. Blow nose. Move on.
Because I enjoy this particular form of torture, here are the boys, last year and now.
I'm going to need to have you call 911 now. If my heart has not broken by now, I'm pretty sure that I just had a hard attack. Wait, that wasn't painful enough. Maybe one more.
October 2012
October 2013
As you can see, I'm having a fit of nostalgia. I'm so paranoid that I will blink and Ryan will be 5, just like his big brother.
In the past two weeks Ryan's vocabulary has exploded. For the longest time he was only saying a handful of his favorite words (well "ball," mostly). But in just the past two weeks he's saying everything! His favorite sentence is "where are you." When he wants or is looking for something, he will sing out this phrase as he wanders across the house looking for his item of interest. I love it when he is looking for his Daddy and sings, "Dada, where ARE you?" Totally melts my face off.
When he's hungry, Ryan will go sit in one of the big chairs at our dining room table and say, "Eat! Pees (please). Eat!" His big blue eyes look at me from the edge of the table (his head barely reaches the tabletop) and I'm hypnotized to his every command. The problem with Ryan talking is that I can no longer say no to him. This is because (1) I actually KNOW what he wants for a change and (2) he is too darn cute.
Ryan usually does baby sign language for "please" when he wants something. But the other day, he walked up to me and said, "kaka" (cracker). Before I could reply, he grabbed my finger to lead me to the kakas and said "pees! pees! (please)." I swear that I died five times. He could ask me for anything in that sweet little voice and he will get it. It's the deadly combination of his big pleading eyes and the enthusiasm with which he utters the word "pees!" I'm doomed. This is the end of discipline in my household as I know it.
For as sweet as Ryan can be, he is equally as rough. He is such a bulldozer, trampling everything and anyone in his path. He loves to hit. He doesn't really intend to hit, he just likes sports and sees everything as a target. Every once in a while I'll catch him with a toy golf club, whacking the back of Jacob's legs. I'm pretty sure "no hit!" is probably the most commonly used phrase in our house. Then we tell Ryan, "Be nice. Give Jacob a hug" and he walks over to Jacob sheepishly, puts his face down, and, with his body still several inches away, leans his head into Jacob so that only his head is touching Jacob's body. It's the most obvious reluctant hug I've ever seen. Hopefully Ryan is learning compassion, however reluctantly.
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