A couple of weeks ago, while our friends Sarah, Mike & Hannah were visiting from Oregon, Darlene and I went to a local pumpkin patch and spent a couple hours wandering through the gorgeous sunflower maze and choosing a wagonload of pumpkins to bring home with us.
Darlene just turned 2 1/2 and her little friend Hannah was about to turn 2 in a of couple days! The girls were thrilled to wander around the farm, ride in the wagons, pull the wagons, and fill the wagons with little pumpkins. And Hannah showed Darlene how much fun it was to throw some pumpkins out of the wagon, too. We went to the farm around midday (nap time), and considering that, both of the girls behaved wonderfully.
None of us had ever been to a giant sunflower field like this one, so that was definitely the highlight of the farm for us. The sunflowers were so tall and bright, and Sarah, Mike and I were fascinated by the complexity of their form. We excitedly pointed out different sunflowers that stood out to us, and we were happy to see honeybees on many of the flowers. Most of the sunflowers were perfectly fresh and all of the petals were fresh, and some of the flowers were older, and wilting. Those looked really pretty too in another way.
The farm had some hay bales set up with pumpkins around them for photo ops, so we guided the girls over there and tried our best to get a photo of them both smiling. They sat there for quite some time and we took a million pictures like all parents do. The girls did so well for a couple of 2 year olds, and they tried to smile for some time before they got tired and wanted to keep walking.
The farm also had one of those wooden photo prop boards with holes cut out for you to stick you head in, so of course we tried to get the girls to pose for photos with their faces in it. That went about as well as you would expect with a couple of toddlers! So cute!!!
Then we ventured into the sunflower maze. It was SO PRETTY!! The sunflowers were so tall and thick that you could definitely get lost...especially if you're like Darlene and you run off the path and scurry between the flower stalks. Luckily she didn't get too far. And then Darlene straight up bolted away from us down the path of the maze, I chased her and yelled as loud as I could, "COME BACK!" But Darlene frankly, did not give a damn. I was panicking when Darlene disappeared around a corner of the maze and I lost sight of her briefly. Luckily, the maze led back to where Mike and Sarah and Hannah were waiting with the wagons, so Darlene's plans to get lost were thwarted. I was so relieved that I didn't lose my toddler in that sunflower maze! I was reminded of how much we need to work on our listening skills!
After the briefly stressful moment of almost losing Darlene, it was nice to just head to the pumpkin field and let the girls wander in the wide, open space where we could easily keep our eyes on them. The selection of pumpkins at the farm was so amazing! The variety of pumpkin sizes, colors, textures...they were all so pretty. We filled our wagons up and watched as the girls played in the dirt and threw pumpkins into and out of of the wagons. I found Darlene happily scooping dirt into a pile she was making on top of a pumpkin...so silly. Darlene's face, arms and hands became covered in dirt and she looked ridiculously perfect, a messy toddler having fun.
All in all, this trip to the pumpkin patch was so enjoyable. Spending time with good friends always leaves me feeling blessed and content. Seeing Darlene having fun with her friend was so adorable and we definitely made some sweet memories. And bonus, Darlene took an amazing nap after this excursion! Between last year's pumpkin-gathering trip, when Darlene was 18 months old, and this year's trip, when she is 2 & 1/2, so much has changed! This year it was so much harder to keep up with her! I can't wait to experience this all over again next fall!
