The Pumpkin Patch

I have always wanted to take my kid to the pumpkin patch. Last year's attempt was not very successful (think cranky baby + exhaustion + roadside pumpkin stand), so we decided to give it a try again this year. We were visiting Tommy's family in Richmond this weekend so we decided to go check out the Ashland Berry Farm, where Tommy worked in high school.

Now this is not just any pumpkin patch. It was crazy - HUGE pumpkin fields, a straw bail maze/obstacle course, a haunted forest, a haunted house, a Christmas store, a Fall store, a lunch place, fields of berries (as the name indicates), a pond with huge fish in it... you get the idea. There were so many people there it was a little overwhelming!

Tommy's mom, sister Kelley and her son Jake (Wyatt's cousin), and the three of us all piled in the hay rack and they took us out to the pumpkin patch and it was SO fun to watch Wyatt and Jake find their pumpkins and try to carry them. We did the $20 all-you-can-carry special so we loaded Tommy up with 6 pumpkins and paid our tab! The boys also went through the hay bail maze thing. It was ENORMOUS! I have never seen such a thing. It had lots of obstacles like drawbridges and stuff so it was a lot of fun for them.

I did get a little wave of Iowa homesickness while we were there though. There were a few contributing factors, but the final straw was when we went to this restaurant and it had grits on the menu. I was like, I don't want grits! I am from Iowa! I just want regular food! Completely irrational, but I was missing my family being there and with Tommy starting class on Tuesday I was beginning to realize our little game of "House" was about to end. Anyway, Tommy's family probably thinks I'm nuts, if they didn't already, but my pity party is over now and I'm okay, I think.