Daddy all day and the Pumpkin Farm!!

So, My loving husband and I have been trying to figure out where we would fit in a visit to a pumpkin farm this year; it seems like every weekend was already accounted for. Well,... Lo and behold, hubby had to work a midnight shift for work today, so he went in at midnight, and got back at 6am or so. He did have to sleep away most of the morning to catch up on his shut-eye, but E and C got to spend some awesome quality time with him before the older ones got home. AND,... we got a lot of basic cleaning and laundry done in the house. (it's amazing what you can get done with the proper motivation!)

Anyway, we got enough done that we could justify heading off to the pumpkin farm up in Richmond right after D and A got home. We had the older two do their homework and reading in the van on the way up; they do so well keeping on task when they are forced to be stationary. And it makes the trip seem MUCH faster to them!


E and C fell asleep on the way up, so we let them sleep a little while the older kids and hubby and I checked out the entrance area with cute country items for sale - local honey, homemade preserves, salsa, apples, etc. We picked up some of their local raw honey, as we're fanatics for the more natural sweeteners.

Then we located their largest wagon, and tossed the little kids into it to help facilitate their waking up process. They LOVED the ride, and the older kids really enjoyed pulling them around, so it worked well for everyone! All of the kids loved the hay bale maze: D was the best at getting out of it illegally, A was the fastest getting through it without leaping any walls, and the two little ones just loved running through and scaring themselves silly when they ran into someone else.

When it came to choosing pumpkins, E and C wanted EVERY pumpkin they picked up! D & A were so choosy that we almost had to put them on a time-limit. C really liked the haybale ladybug; they had a sign saying 'no climbing',... and i was hard pressed to enforce that with her - she a quick little bugger when she wants to be!

There was no holding back, however, with the huge hay worm! The kids were all OVER it! It was a nice kid-friendly area where anything goes.

By the time our trip was over, the kids were red-faced, exhausted, and wiped-out. They'll sleep WELL tonight!