A Wild Trip to the Pumpkin Farm!

Aunt Sue, Baby Katie, Mary, John and I loaded up Blue Thunder and headed to Tate Farms - the pumpkin patch - for a great adventure.  Hold on for the wild and colorful ride! In the excitement of Katie being here, I forgot to do the usual talk with Mary and John before we got there...the "here's the expectation" and "here's how this is going to go" talk.  No "please stay close to mommy" or "we're going to buy pumpkins at the end" chat - big mommy oops, but sometimes these things happen.  All Sue and I could think about was getting the babies fed in time, bundled up, loaded, unloaded, put in strollers and wheeled to the front entrance. Despite coming last year, all Mary and John knew was that this was the place where they were going to get to pick out their highly-desired pumpkins.  So they ran as fast as they could to the first pumpkins they saw.  That's right - a sweet lady wheeling her paid for pumpkins out of Tate Farms.  Mary dashed up to the wheelbarrow, grabbed a pumpkin and ran over to Sue and me who were frantically finding coupons and checking in to proudly show us her pick.  We apologized to the speechless lady as Mary ran to grab one of the pumpkins that was used to decorate the entrance.  Oh dear - mommy should have had that talk.  But before we could grab her, Mary dashed off - she loves to run in wide open space and John charged after her in glee.  Sue and I chased after them in the strollers at a clear disadvantage in speed.  Let's just say that Tate Farms was quite the adventure this year! Pictures say 1,000 words, but they don't fully capture our experience!

Mary and John love bouncing, but this was quite the high risk jump. The big kids (cropped out) arrived right when Anna started fussing and I got called away to help Sue on baby duty. So, Mary and John bounced happily next to teenage boys playing chase and girls doing reckless front hand springs. They enjoyed their time in sweet oblivion while my heart almost beat out of my chest. By God's mercy, we all survived.  

Then there was the corn.  Kids having a blast jumping in on top of each other. John, who loves corn, decided to eat a little before throwing it.

Again, we survived and my cherubs didn't crack anyone's head or get crushed while I posed for this picture with Anna.

The corn ride was so much fun! Thanks Sue for photographing our ride while also protecting the babies from strangers who can't seem to resist touching them.

The slide was super fast! 

Pumpkins AT LAST!

     Anna's high risk moment of the day! 

A nice man helped us out to our car.  Two strollers, six optional coats just in case, two blankets, four little ones, five pumpkins and the biggest mum ever, we loaded the minivan in the dark as Mary and John melted down in hunger.  The man didn't quite know what to think of us. At this point, we needed t-shirts that said "We survived Tate Farms with four kids four and under!"

Sue and I got home, unloaded the car/got in a full body workout, fed the kids, put them to sleep and enjoyed a nice glass of wine as we laughed out loud about our time. We looked through the pictures that so capture the preciousness of the day...you may even forget the craziness looking at them, much how sweet old ladies in the grocery store recall life with toddlers. It's all about perspective and here is mine today...15 years ago it was international travel and sky diving that brought on adrenaline and physical challenge...now it is simply a trip to the pumpkin patch! Raising little children is nothing short of a wild adventure and I am THANKFUL to have sisters now on this journey...together we can experience first-hand the real CRAZY behind-the-scenes moments that make up motherhood and the real CRAZY love for these little people...neither of which we could have ever imagined before they arrived.

And aren't our pumpkins great?!