The Basketball Patch

Adam's sister, Annie, lives in Ohio.  Each year she and her girls go to a pumpkin patch and post about it on her blog.  Every year we whine that we don't have cool stuff like that in Wyoming.  Well, eat your heart out Annie, because this year we found a patch!!  A lot of people have told us the local pumpkin patch is very fun and amazing.  Grady has thus far thoroughly enjoyed pumpkins.  However, he generally refers to them as basketballs (the kid is obsessed with balls).  When we got him out of the car he sat and stared at the sea of pumpkins for about ten minutes whispering "basketball". 

Grady would love to run to each pile of pumpkins and pick them up.  They were a bit heavy, but he would moan and grunt and try.

 Finally, he found a couple that were his size.  He would not let them go and carried them everywhere for the rest of the trip.

 What's a pumpkin patch without a horse ride?  Grady loved the horses, but got a little freaked out when we got close.  The patch also had corn mazes, one lasted two hours and the other about a half hour.  We did not do any of the corn mazes.

 We did wonder through the enormous patch for about two hours seeking out the perfect pumpkin.  Adam was sure he was going to stumble upon the Great Pumpkin, but had no luck.

 Grady was a good little helper.  If Adam was pulling the wagon, Grady had to be pushing.  If there was any pulling of the wagon without Grady's help, he would cry and throw himself on the ground...it was parenting at its finest.

 HELP...HELP...Grady don't need no stinkin help...Grady then decided that he could push the wagon all by himself.  He pushed it right into a rut.

 The excitement was high!!  Grady had his excited face on all day long.  Everything deserved a gasp and a point.  Dad even got in on the action.

 Adam's work friends and their kids also went with us.  They had a lot more energy than us and longer legs than Grady.  They covered the patch a couple of times to find the biggest pumpkins they could.

 Grady was happy with the pumpkins he could pick up and throw.

 The horse ride was advertised as "well worth the money."  Adam was pumped, Grady was thirsty, and Camille was hungry...the ride was not worth the two bucks, but Grady loved the horses.

 The patch itself was impressive.  It covered over 300 yards and had every gourd you could imagine.  It literally was a sea of orange.

 We totally forgot to get our friends to take a family pic of us.  So Adam attempted a self-held pic.  We look good, but Grady would never look up...something about the sun being in his eyes...he was being a baby!  It really was a gorgeous day and a lot of fun.  We loved the basketball patch and would definitely go back.