On Monday, Avery, my parents and I braved the chilly autumn morning to visit the same pumpkin patch we went to last year.
I guess Avery loves sticking her head in these funny cut-out pictures!
The petting zoo was much better this year. Besides seeing some unusual animals (like a 9-month-old camel, a buffalo and some miniature horses), Avery was able to pet some goats…
…and llamas. “Llook out, Llarry! It’s the llandlord!” One of my favorite Far Side cartoons.
The best part about this farm is that we take a hayride to the pumpkin patch. This day we had our own private ride. It was just the four of us in the wagon along with the “tour guide.” She pointed out all of the produce being grown at the farm.
Grandma and Grandpa wanted to get two pumpkins: a big one to make a jack-o-lantern and a smaller one for Avery’s to put on our porch. Here she is with the larger pumpkin.
There’s a story behind this picture. The coat she is wearing once was mine. My Grandma Hromada made it for me.
So I did a little digging and found a picture of me wearing the coat, too. The only one I could find was this one. I’m also in a pumpkin patch choosing a jack-o-lantern. So I made Avery recreate this shot for me.
What’s a hayride without throwing a little hay? Whenever someone at our house says, “Hey!” we always say, “Hay is for horses.” This now is Avery’s favorite phrase. She’s been saying it a lot this fall.
After the pumpkin patch, we went back to Grandma and Grandpa’s house to carve the large pumpkin.
Avery didn’t mind sticking her hand into the pumpkin to pull out the gooey innards, which is more than I can say for Mommy at Avery’s age.
Grandpa worked very hard on carving this pumpkin. It was very thick and difficult to cut.
But look at the finished product! Even Grandpa thought it may have been his best jack-o-lantern ever. And he’s been doing this for a long time.
Avery was very proud to put the jack-o-lantern on our front porch. She couldn’t wait to show it to Daddy. And he agreed that it was a fine looking jack-o-lantern.