For weeks now, Connor has been hearing about his class field trip to the "punkin' patch" and today was the big day. Most of the class is pictured above, with Connor at far right, some of the others had already run off in the direction he's looking. He's been alternately excited and ambivalent about it as we waited for the day, depending on what mood you caught him in. I'm pretty sure excited won the actual day, hands down.
Grammy and Pappy were nice enough to meet up with us at the little orchard (especially since we had to be there by 9 this morning, which is a stretch for us non-morning people). And that meant there was a one adult for each of the three boys, which was really nice because the little guys could get out of the stroller quite a bit and explore and Connor also had free reign to be with his classmates.
We began our morning with a tour of the cider mill, seeing how they sort apples and make it into cider. There was even a taste test for those who like the stuff (not Mommy). Connor's response was to be expected, "Mm. S'good. I like that!" he told us. He thought the same thing about the apple fritter that Pappy got to share with him (we even got a few to take home - Pappy got some for Great Grandma JoAnn and we got some for Daddy).
After the cider tasting, we hopped on a big wagon behind a really big blue tractor (crucial details, according to Connor) for our hay ride around the orchard. All three of the little guys seemed to enjoy that, though we had a hard time keeping Sawyer still. He bonded with one of Connor's teachers (Miss Crystal) and another random parent, and kept using their legs for his hand support as he stood for most of the ride. Thankfully, they were agreeable because we couldn't keep him from going back to them. Xander alternated between my lap and Grammy's, and just looked around. Connor had his own seat, at the very back of the wagon and just kicked his little legs and watched the scenery go by.
Once the hay ride was over, it was time to walk back to one of the pumpkin patches and pick out our pumpkins to take home (included in our admission with the class). Mommy picked out a big one for the front steps, and two smaller ones for the little guys. Connor picked out one of the smaller ones for himself, and we may try to do some painting or coloring on them later this afternoon before setting them out on the front steps (we'll see what kind of moods everyone is in after getting up early and then skipping nap time)!
And last, but certainly not least, Miss Julie and Miss Crystal handed out their bag of apples to bring home and then released them onto the giant playground. This, was what our boys had been waiting for since we arrived (maybe all of their lives, by the way they took off running). This was where it was really nice to have three adults, because they all took off in different directions (imagine that)!
Connor sort of remembered the big wooden platform and slides from last year, but he was too small before for the really big one (two stories high). Not this year, he was up and down it faster than you could blink. He loved ALL of the slides. He even took a break from that to try out some rat wheel racing (large PVC-type pipe cut in cylinders that you push from inside and roll down a path), a hay bale maze, and a giant dirt pile (this was probably his favorite, if you can imagine). All of the boys clothes are currently upstairs soaking the dirt off, because it was dusty and dirty everywhere. But they had a big time, so Mommy didn't complain too much.
The play area also had swing sets, hale bales to climb on, a goat and bunny viewing area, little pedal tractors on a concrete figure eight, and several other things to keep everyone occupied. School bus after school bus kept pulling up, and soon the place was overrun with more children than you can imagine. We ended our day with lunch at the little snack counter on the side of the main building, where Connor shared some of my ribeye sandwich and passed on Grammy and Pappy's pulled pork. We also broke out the chocolate suckers Grammy had picked up (the same ones from last year, which my good three-year old pointed out very early in today's trip).
It was a good morning of fun. The rain held off, but the clouds kept it nice and cool for our morning adventure. The boys seemed to enjoy most of it, especially Connor. He was not quite ready to leave, but did so rather quietly. I'm sure I'll be hearing about "Go to the punkin' patch 'gain soon? See Grammy, Pappy at the punkin' patch?" on a regular basis for the next few days (and possibly weeks). At three, if it's fun, you always want (and expect) to do it again.