Pumpkin Patch

Whew! October has been a busy month! Today I'm trying to play catch-up in blog world so here is post #1, much too late!

PUMPKIN PATCH:

We had a fun time at the pumpkin patch with our wonderful neighborhood-family. You know the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child"? Well in this neighborhood's case, filled with air force pilots' wives who find themselves alone every other week, not to mention the frequent 2-month deployments, and army spouses who are left alone for a year at a time, it seems to be true. There are several groups of us on our street that enjoy spending time together and we made plans to head to the patch one rarely beautiful Saturday morning. Daddy Bear was out of town for work so I, Mama Bear, braved it alone with the kids.

This was fine because our "village" was there to help with LB so that I could make sure BS was fed and taken care of. I managed to get a few pictures of LB having fun in the pumpkins,

riding tractors,

and riding the "cow train."

I had to stay behind to feed Mili girl when it was time for a hayride but our sweet neighbors took LB with them and made sure to take a couple of pictures. Here is our dear friend, "Mr. Bill," a personal favorite of LB's.

The hayride dropped them off in the field of pumpkins so the "villagers" took pictures of the kids for me. This is LB with his two best girls on our street!

I even managed to rest my feet (and back) and chat with good friends while LB played on the playground.

We had such a great time but I was reminded of how thankful I am to not be a single parent. My crazy Braun family (minus one) was quite a sight as we were leaving the patch before our friends. Naptime was way overdue and LB had lost all but an ounce of his energy so I was left carrying both of our pumpkins (fairly small since I also had a baby on my front) and trying to corral a very tired LB on the long walk back to the front, through the checkout line, and to the car. I even managed to find BS's vest that I dropped somewhere between the hay maze and the petting zoo. UGH! It was not my idea of fun! I watched enviously as dads piled HUGE pumpkins into wheel barrows to buy for their families while their wives let the children play in the fields so that the kids weren't picking up every toy and piece of candy in the place like my PRECIOUS little 3-yr-old was doing. But I quickly brushed away my jealousy, thanked the Lord that I was not permanently single (just for a couple of weeks), managed to get LB to the car (with a few bribes and threats), and drove quietly home as my tired ones slept. Was it worth it? YES! Would I do it again? Ask me in a year! :)

Stay tuned for more October catch-up posts coming soon!!