The Pumpkin Patch

Today was the day for the trip to the pumpkin patch with the kindergarten classes at Emma's school. It was supposed to be last Thursday, but that was a chilly, windy, rainy day and the trip was canceled. Today was the makeup day for the trip. I checked the weather forecast and it said today would be partly sunny and in the upper 60s. Great! I wore a sweater and light-weight cotton pants. I packed our lunches and headed out the door. The weather was pleasant. This was going to be FUN!!!

After a week on the bus, we finally arrived at the pumpkin patch. Emma and I noticed that the sky on this side of the bus was grey and cloudy - no sun. The sky on that side of the bus was blue and the sun was shining. Hmmm. That should have been my first indication that this was not going to turn out as expected. The second indication was that my ears were still ringing from all the noise on the bus. I forgot how noisy little kids could be. The narrow confines of the bus just kept bouncing that noise from one side to the other and into my ears.

We got off the bus and noticed that the entire sky was now cloudy and grey. Where did the sun go? It was sunny when I left home. It was also pleasant. Now it was chilly and breezy. My sweater and light-weight cotton pants were definitely the wrong choice for this field trip. Brrr. We sat down under a huge tent and ate our lunches at nice picnic tables. Except for the yellow jackets buzzing around and the flies, it was as pleasant as it could be, considering how much colder it seemed to be getting.

After lunch, we cheerfully climbed onto the hay wagon for a nice hay ride. The hay bales were as hard as rocks and there was no room for feet, with the row of hay bales down the middle of the wagon. I think every child on that wagon stepped on both of my feet, not once, but four times - getting on, getting off at the pumpkin patch, getting back on and then getting off back at the tent. Oh well, my feet were numb from the cold, anyway.

Emma and her friend wanted small pumpkins, so we hiked to the last row of pumpkins where the littlest pumpkins were waiting. Of course! Why waste our time picking up a bigger pumpkin here by the wagon? Why not walk all the way to Timbuktu? Emma was looking for the perfect pumpkin. None of those closest to the wagon would do. We also had to walk around the entire orchard looking for the perfect apple! I also had to help her friend, too. Perfect pumpkins, perfect apples. All this time, the wind was picking up and the air was getting colder. I swear, I think I saw snow flakes.

After the hay ride, we returned (ran) to the tent area. There is a maze there and everyone just had to go (run) into it! Those kids cheated, though. In the huge hay bales, there were small gaps that the kids could crawl through and get to another part of the maze. Stinkin' kids! I finally found my way out and just waited at the entrance for them to come (run) out.

We wandered (ran) down to the farm area to see the goats, the newborn calf and her mother, the chickens, and other smelly farm animals. The breeze didn't help diffuse the odor, it only seemed to blow it into our faces. Finally, it was time to head (run) off to the Johnny Blues, then make our way (run) to the buses.

The trip home was nice and warm. The noise level was about the same, but my ears were still ringing from the trip over, so I didn't hear as much. I don't envy the teachers their jobs! The kids, though, were great. They were nice, polite and just as cute as they could be. Emma was happy to have me come along and asked if I would like to come to the next field trip. I told her that if her Dad couldn't make it, I'd be glad to!