9:45. Kids have had their second breakfast, I've gotten them both dressed, and Jack went to the bathroom. I get on Kate's shoes and jacket and get coffee for me and water for them while Jack gets his shoes on. It's important to get an early start so Kate doesn't fall asleep on the way there, forcing me to wake her up and thereby ruining her nap and everyone's day.
10:00. We're on the road and as we pass the Y I decide I really should stop and look for Jack's swimsuit, which he somehow managed to lose after swimming the previous day. How does a child lose a bathing suit? Anyway, there was nowhere to park, except deep in the parking garage, so I drove in and drove out. We have to get our pumpkins!!!!
10:15. We pull into the pumpkin patch parking lot. Kate is still awake, fortunately. I get her out and Jack eagerly piles out too. He sees the gift shop first. No! Pumpkin patch!
10:17. I've discovered wagons. It's a bit of a walk to the pumpkin patch, so I pile them in. Jack wants to sit facing Kate, which clearly doesn't work in a wagon with no walls on it. I sit him in it and plop her down with him. That works (see pic).
10:20. I haul them down to the pumpkin patch, resisting the urge to go too fast. Most of the time. They enjoy fast though, there is much laughing and giggling as wind whips in hair. On the way, we see all kinds of Halloween decorations...pumpkins stacked on each other to look like people, clothing filled with leaves to be people and dogs, fake eyes on trees, ghosts, witches, all that kind of stuff.
10:25. We're there! There's a big old tractor which immediately they want to climb on. They do. Jack climbs up, which is fine, as does Kate, which is mildly worrisome, but she's kind of a thrill-seeker. They sit in the seat and I take pictures. Jack looks like he wants the thing to move. Kate just enjoys herself.
10:30. I get them down to go find a pumpkin. After a few minutes I find the perfect one. Jack agrees. Kate is walking around trying to pick one up. They're all bigger than she is, essentially -- certainly heavier -- so it doesn't happen. Then she goes and gets her own wagon, seriously, and starts pulling it around.
10:40. I've found two pumpkins and am ready to go. I let them pick two small ones for themselves. Jack grabs his immediately, then backs away with it because there's a huge Daddy Longlegs spider. I reassure Jack calmly, all the while backing away myself because I've always been scared to death of those things myself. They're creepy. Kate picks out a little reddish pumpkin, a fine and unique choice.
10:41. It looks like rain.
10:42. We head back, me pulling the pumpkins and Jack pulling Kate. We say hi to the leaf people and such.
10:50. Back at the store to pay for our pumpkins. The two big ones are 30 and 20 pounds, which works out to about 34 dollars. No, really! Then I spy this awesome Halloween ghost made out of metal on a spring, that bounces up and down. Jack spots it too. "Can we get it?" he asks, as I'm looking at it, wondering if we can get it. I say, well, we'll have to put one of the pumpkins back. He runs outside to tip the wagon over. OK, not really, but he easily parts with his smaller pumpkin (Kate keeps hers) and I set aside Pumpkin No. 2, and we buy the ghost. And the big pumpkin, and Kate's.
11:00. Everyone is happy. It only rains after we're back in the car. We go back to the Y and search high and low for his suit, with no success. Going back to the car, we get rained on.
11:30. The ghost smiles at us from atop an end table.
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