pumpkins.

Where we live road side farm stands, pumpkin patches, orchards and farms are everywhere. From the few rows of pumpkins outside of a rural farmhouse to the elaborate production of a farm that caters to the school buses and field trips. It's all here. We have many favorites, and will always stop at more than one spot throughout the season.



We have our favorite carving pumpkins, favorite pie pumpkins, the place with the chatty owner, the place with the friendly cats and some goats, the best hayrides, the place that always has unusual varieties of winter squash, the farm that has the best wagons. And if we can squeak in during quiet times, we visit our favorite farm maze or that spot with excellent caramel apples.



And so it goes, year after year. Boys keep getting bigger, but they still love pulling that wagon. And even if it is only a few miles from home, it is about the whole experience. What park do we have to go to nearby? Do we need a picnic, is the weather perfect? Do we have the right music for the drive? ;)



And only when the farms and road side stands all finally close up, when there are no more signs with arrows scattered along the roadsides, and all of our pie pumpkins have been puréed, does it feel truly like winter is not far behind.