Mother Nature's Farm and Pumpkin Patch

When I was an undergraduate at the University of Arizona I took a GRE preparation class in order to be more successful (get a higher score) on the GRE.  These classes are also available for the LSAT and MCAT, etc.

 

I want you to think of this post as a preparation course for visiting a farm and a pumpkin patch.  It is the only reason I can justify for the 7,980 pictures you are about to see.

 

We headed out for Mother Nature's Farm this morning.  We have never been.  What is very nice about this place is that they charge significantly less for adults (only $3), knowing that adults are there because the children cannot go without them.  For $15 total for all of us (Elliott was free) Spencer got to do the jumping castle, climb up a dirt hill (yeehaw), run through a hay maze, pet the animals and got a mini pumpkin and stickers to decorate it.  We all got to go on the hayride.

 

We asked Spencer what he wanted to do first.  He picked the jumping castle. 

 

It was more of a jumping rectangle though. 

 

He still had fun.

 

Of course there were pictures with painted cut-outs.

 

Hay maze 

No farm experience is complete without a run up a dirt hill.  I mean, how else can we expect all of our youngins to get infected with Valley Fever?

 

This mound of dirt has an actual purpose, but not for another month or so.  The farm brings in tons and tons of fake snow during December so that winter deprived Maricopa County kids can go sledding.

 

Spencer had a blast.  He ran up and down and up and down and then back up and down again.

Elliott hung out in the shade.  He had been wearing pants when we arrived but it was too hot for them after about 92 seconds.

 

Then we went to check out the animals.  This rooster was very, very vocal despite it not being anywhere close to daybreak.

 

Michael and I think that this donkey was the inspiration for Donkey from Shrek.

 

At the very least they are half-brothers.

 

 

More painted cut-outs

 

We paid $1 for Spencer to get his face painted.

 

If you haven't been keeping track, that is 3 face paintings in 7 days.

Then it was time for our hayride.  These are words to sum up the experience: hot, sunny, burning, dusty, dirty.  Oh, and Valley Fever.  Don't forget the Valley Fever.

No farm experience is complete without letting your kid touch an animal's saliva for maximum exposure to salmonella and e.coli.  We paid $1 for a bag of carrots to give Spencer this chance.

 

I think this guy could use a trip to the orthodontist for his own palate expander. 

 

Elliott played with Spencer's mini pumpkin.  He put it in his mouth at one point, so he had his own exposure to potential pathogens.

 

Ah yes.  Pumpkin patch time.

 

Spencer was easy. 

 

Then it was time for brother pictures.

Elliott was not so pleased with his surroundings.  He's a bit of a photo diva and he objected to sitting on a gourd-like squash.

 

We took a brief break for the 1st of what will probably be a series of photos over the next 10 years.

 

Then a nice lady offered to take our family photo.

(Side note.  Michael got dressed this morning in a blue Old Navy shirt with a flag.  Because, you know, we were headed to a 4th of July party.  I looked at him.  I sighed.  I questioned his motives and his love for his family.  Then I sent him back to his closet to change.  Then I asked him why he insisted on trying to ruin every photo opportunity we have as a family.)

 

We tried the brother photos again.

 

This is probably the "best" one.

 

Although this one, entitled "sweet moments of brotherly love" is kind-of cute.

 

Until Elliott tried to rip Spencer's face off.

 

Maybe we should ditch the brother and try just the baby.  That's a sure-fire recipe for some smiles.  Or not.

By this point it was reeeeeeaaaaaalllllllly hot and the place was getting pretty crowded. It was time to get the h-e-l-l out of there.

 

  We told Spencer to pick out 2 pumpkins.  I like how he picked a big pumpkin with a little stem for himself, and a little pumpkin with a big stem for Elliott.

 

One last picture with Spencer's mini pumpkin. 

Then we drove home as fast as possible (I may or may not have broken several traffic laws involving acceptable speed of a moving vehicle) to get Elliott down for a nap.  He slept for 3 hours.  I joined him for the last hour.

 

Ah-ha. 

 

You thought we were done and that you were completely prepared for your trip to the farm, but you were wrong. 

 

Comparisons. 

We have to do the comparisons.

 

Spencer's first trip to a pumpkin patch in 2008 vs Elliott's first trip today.

 

Spencer in his first Halloween shirt vs Elliott in the same shirt.  

Spencer was 13 (almost 14) months and weighed just about the same as Elliott at 10 months.

 

Spencer, age 1 vs Spencer, age 5

 

Spencer's pumpkin montage

 

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