Pumpkin Time!

We've had It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and our arsenal of pumpkin themed books on rotation since late September, but we had a lot of trouble getting to the pumpkin patch this year. In the past we've always gone at least twice every October. Something about being 4 and and almost 11 or my recent surgery or the unseasonably hot weather has really upset the balance around here. We'd get everyone in their pumpkin shirts and ready to head out the door and there would be a meltdown. Worse than that on another attempt we got everyone all the way to the pumpkin patch and the behavior was so bad we had to leave pumpkinless! I started to feel like I'd lost my ability to parent effectively. Mike tried to tell me it was because we get them too excited about stuff before we do it. Yeah, right like I'm going to stop doing THAT.

All total there were two failed family trips to pick a pumpkin, a missed get together with friends at the pumpkin patch and a foregone fall carnival due to one child or the other's bad behavior this year. It is so depressing to sit home enforcing consequences. Anyway, in the end I got my head back on my shoulders a little better and dismissed Mike's ridiculous fantasy of a night time pumpkin patch visit in favor of (duh!) a late morning one. The up side to sitting home enforcing consequences was that once that had happened a few times (for each kid) things got better.

Here was our long awaited trip to the pumpkin patch.

Later that day (aka after her nap) Miss Roo carved her first pumpkin. Isn't it funny how things balance out like that? I had a lot of fun helping her do it, but it made me miss little Isaac. He played on his computer and then when he was told to join us outside ran around the yard with the dog. He wasn't at all interested in the pumpkin carving. I think we've only got a handful of holiday activities as a family left. Sniff...On the bright side aside from refusing to touch the pumpkin guts Riley was a natural! I think her pumpkin came out great.

Isaac and I carving his first pumpkin 2008

Riley carves her first pumpkin 2013