Pumpkin patch job

For the past thirteen months, I have been replaying in my head the details of my very first trip to Didier Farms, a local hot spot for pumpkin-related action. And as we've driven past the empty field during winter, spring and summer, I have secretly been fantasizing about how I would return this fall to once again find myself completely alone in a pumpkin patch full of amusement-park rides.

So the good news is, today I was once again THE ONLY KID at the pumpkin patch. (Not including Rowan, who's not so much a "kid" as a sidekick or accessory.) So the bad news is that it had a bit to do with the headline on CNN.com, "Huge storm rips Midwest, barrels east."

Turns out that when winds exceed 70 mph, people aren't so inclined to stand around operating ferris wheels.

But we weren't about to let a little bit of weather get in the way of a trip we had been planning for weeks. Halloween was less than a week away, my dad had scheduled the afternoon off of work, and dagnabbit, we were GOING to that pumpkin patch even if there was nothing for us to do but...you know...pick pumpkins.

Which is what we did. In between brushing our hair out of our ears, eyes and mouths and attempting to avoid becoming airborne. It was AWESOME.


By the time we piled back into the car about 20 minutes later, two pumpkins richer and sporting some extremely voluminous hair, we felt fulfilled enough to go on our way without any whining or tears about the carnival rides that weren't to be.

Looks like the long wait for Halloween hasn't been a total bust after all. But perhaps next year we can celebrate this joyous holiday sans the kind of weather that could drop a house on a witch.

2009

2010

DUPED! The moment Rowan realized the pumpkin patch was all cardboard and mirrors.

Here we are in the gift shop checking out a mechanical skeleton that kept peeking out from behind a door. We weren't sure whether to laugh or cry, so we opted for a look that implies both intrigue and terror.

And this is why I laughed when the lady at the checkout asked if we wanted to borrow a wagon to get our pumpkins out to the car.