Preston Trail Farms Pumpkin Patch

We tried out Preston Trail Farms this week -- a farm and pumpkin patch about an hour north of Dallas.



There is no way I would have done this outing, had it not been a meet-up for the mom-photographer group I'm a part of.  The meet-up was for 4pm, which meant we were finishing up right around rush hour, dinner time, and bed time.  Despite that, we did make the trip.  And I'm glad we did.  The car ride home was not fun, but the one there was pretty easy, and the kids had a great time.



Included in our admission price was a small cup of animal feed.  Although nobody wanted to feed the animals at first, Lucy and Elliot did quickly warm up to the idea. 

And Elliot especially seemed to enjoy feeding the goats and sheep. 



Oliver was mostly terrified of the animals. 


 It took a while for him to stop clinging to my leg and actually look the animals in their faces.



Even he eventually loosened up, though.



To say Lucy and Elliot enjoyed seeing their friend would be an under statement. 



He is, it would seem, the epitome of "cool" in the kids' eyes.  Lucy and Elliot repeated everything he said, multiple times, laughing all along. 



The hay maze was impressive.  The walls must have been close to 10 feet tall, and they were thick.  It would really have stressed me out if it had been at all crowded.  I couldn't keep all 3 kids in my sight, and I couldn't hear them through the thick walls.  But it wasn't crowded -- our friends were the only other ones there.  The kids went through the maze twice and loved it.



We were all kind of pooped and thirsty by the time we ventured over to the actual pumpkin patch.  Lucy and Elliot were delighted to see the yellow pumpkin blossoms and the green, unripe pumpkins still growing on the vine.  They each got to select a pie pumpkin to bring home -- a relief for me because they had been asking daily to buy a pumpkin.



It was 97 degrees when we were there this week, and the pumpkin patch and hay ride were in full sun.  So we were all pretty hot and tired by the end.



But I think it made for fun memories, and I loved the exposure to farm animals and an actual, real pumpkin patch with pumpkins still growing on the vine.  I wish Daniel could have been with us -- maybe next year.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere

It's fall.  YES!! We got a cool front the past few days, and it's been awesome, in the 60's.  We tell Lucy important dates relative to the weather.  Like... it'll be Christmas when it gets really, really cold.  Daddy's birthday will be when it's just a little cool (November).  Your birthday will be after it gets really cold and then it gets really hot again (next June).  Etc, etc, etc.



Anyways, it was cool yesterday.  And out of the blue, Lucy goes, "It's almost Daddy's birthday!"  Since she has no concept of what day we're on, let alone what month we're in--I thought that was pretty impressive.



The Arboretum is awesome this time of year.  Well, it's wonderful from a pumpkin perspective.  It's lousy from a solitude perspective.  The place is crawling with kids, moms, old folks, and especially elementary school classes on field trips.  That last category made my recent trip with the kids pretty hectic.



I've never arranged flowers in the middle of a hurricane, but I bet it would be something like trying to pose three tiny people in the pumpkin patch, while hoards of 8-year-olds are released all around you.  It was exhausting and sort of miserable.



But we got our pumpkin pictures out of it, so there's that.  Plus, Nonnie came with us (score!), so that was a treat for the kids (and me).  We wandered around the gardens and eventually made it back to the car, completely exhausted.



Yesterday we went to a different pumpkin patch -- in Richardson.




It's a church fundraiser, where they sell the pumpkins ($$$$) to raise money for... something.  Their church, I guess.



Anyways, it was fun.





It was cold and windy, but the kids loved getting to pick out their own pumpkins to take home.



Lucy hated the large pumpkin I picked out.  She said it was taking up too much space in the wagon.
 

But if we're going to carve a Hello-Kitty into a pumpkin, it's going to have to be a pumpkin big enough so the design can be recognized.



We worked on cleaning out the pumpkin(s) after naps.  I took approximately 200 photos (by interval timing, a feature on the camera) in order to get this. one. shot.  That shouldn't be amazing to me... I've tried interval timing photography before, and it always ends up about like that.  200 photos, for one shot.



But, I'm glad to have the picture of me with the kids. 

It's hard to get these kinds of pictures.  Especially where we're all actually doing something kind of fun (and not just smiling at the camera).



So, I'd say it was worth it.

Arboretum Pumpkin Patch with the Munchkins

 

The kids and I ventured to the now familiar pumpkin patch at the Arboretum this morning. 

 

This was my third year to do this with Lucy (wow!  She was only 4 months old our first time there) and my first year with Elliot. 

 

...And my first year with TWO kids, instead of just one.  (Jennifer, how on earth do you shoot 3?)




Thanks to a few passers-by willing to get the kids to smile for a second or two, I managed to get a couple photos with both kids smiling.  Lucy is so over the camera. 
 

Trying to get her to look at it or me is a joke.  I am fresh out of ideas and need some inspiration. 



Throwing my purse up in the air did score some smiles... but only at the purse, not at the camera (or me) :). 

Lucy!!  Can you give Elliot a KISS??



Wow.  Great job.  That was a very efficient kiss.  Not really frame-worthy.  Moving on.



Ohhhh, Elliot!  Ohhh, Elliot!!!  Ahhh-BOO!  A-B-C-D-E-F-G... Lucy!! Lucy, look at mommy!  PEEK-aboo!!  Moving on.



Lucy!  Lucy!!  Look here!!  Lucy!!  LUCY!!!  Moving on.



There are about 100 more like this.  But I will spare you. 
 

The good news is that, statistically speaking, the percentage chance that they will eventually look at the camera (given all the possible directions they could look) is not zero. 



And every once in a while, they did look at the camera.  So that was nice.



Oh, who am I kidding -- I love all of these photos.  They're my kids and they are gorgeous.  Whether they're looking at the camera or not :).

We went about 20 feet into the new Childrens' Garden (awesome) and had some fun on the celery slide and in the pea pod.  And then we turned back to meet some friends in the main garden.

 

We met up with our friends, played in the Texas Frontier and then shared a lovely walk through the Arboretum.  

And then... lunch! 

Lucy loved the petting zoo.  

She loved brushing the goats and patting the baby bunny.  

And Elliot was just happy to be there. 

Actually, I was really happy to be there, too.  What a lovely morning.