The Great Pumpkin

The day had arrived (again) for the amazing, illuminating, life-shattering experience of going to the pumpkin patch.

As per the choice of adjectives above, I tend to have high expectations for the day.  I was telling a co-worker about this when she reminded me of the bliss that comes with having no expectations.  It was a perfectly timed reminder as the 80 degree heat did its best to take that fall-time feeling right out of the moment.  But with our expectations left at the door, we had the best time at the super-commercialized Lark Ranch.

Evelyn said her favorite part was jumping on the trampoline.  She does look very blissful.

Trampolines are an important part of any pumpkin hunt.

A bit more traditional with the corn maze.

Evelyn figuring out where we are.

Lydia's favorite part was, I'll guess sliding on the slide.  No?

Although she did spend a long long time driving the immobile tractor.

And she seemed to like sitting up high.

Juliet enjoyed the lack of freedom that comes with being 11 months.

Perhaps enjoyed is too strong a word?

On the hay ride the kids loved the view of everything that wasn't the camera.

I liked the beautiful sights too.

My favorite is getting that one shot that freezes the day for the archives.

There were a few others before the wipe-out.

For the first time ever, we pulled off the triple hold.  Next time I'll try to get Heidi in there somehow.

At the end of it all, we found The 2013 Great Ehlke Family Pumpkin.  One might expect that a Great Pumpkin be large and maybe orange.  But you'd be wrong.  The Great Pumpkin is tiny and mostly green.  It's all about expectations.  We had a great day together.  May this Great Pumpkin last forever.