Picking Pumpkins, Hayrides, and Other Fall Fun (In 90 Degree Heat)!!!

Today mom, Matt and I took the kids to this great pumpkin patch in the middle of nowhere, Dreamfield Farms. The Meadows' family and I discovered it last year when we took the boys for an impromptu trip to pick pumpkins. We were so surprised to find that they had hayrides, "cow trains, pig races, and all other kinds of fun. I couldn't wait to take the boys back, but wanted Matt and maybe my mom be able to go this year. We decided to go up today, even though the Jacob and John and their parents couldn't come. We love it so much, I'm sure we'll go back with them.

Seriously, I was looking forward to this more than Grayson and was so excited when the weather cleared up so we could go today. Little did I know that no rain meant that the temperature would sky rocket...it was SOOOO hot out there!

First stop for Grayson was the ginormous blow up slide (that we could do in many indoor places, but the day's about him!). It was so big...I really was worried he might tumble down. He did fine and of course, loved it! The first time he went down his face was frozen with shock; I don't think even he was prepared for how fast he'd go!

As you can see, Ava was over this place even as we got out of the car. She did get the raw end of the deal, sitting in that car seat in the sweltering heat.

I got to ride this cow train with Grayson last year, so it was Matt's turn. After a lot of jokes about not fitting down in there, here he sits ready to go!

Daddy bracing himself for the bumpy ride! :)

This was one of Gray's favorite parts: the Duck Race....he got to put his duck in and pump the lever to push his duck forward...super fun!

LOVE and adore his face in these two pictures...seeing my child enjoy something so much is one of the perks of being a mom...there's no other feeling like it!

We then moved on to the barn animals, one of Grayson's favorite parts last year. This year, he was more intrigued by the band on his arm, which he constantly tried to remove the whole day.

Okay, I thought I would be a good mommy and feed the goat so Grayson would see there was nothing to it. You know, we used to own goats when I was little, but apparently you get more freaked out by things the older you get. Don't be fooled by my smile, I was praying that goat didn't nibble off my pinkie the whole time!

And as we're gearing up for the main event, the beginning stages of meltdown:

Daddy and Nana on the hayride to get our pumpkins

And here it is...the main event....this is some great pumpkin pickin' if I've ever seen it!

So many great choices, too few hands to carry them!

Grayson walked around the patch saying, "Look Mommy, this is a beautiful castle garden! It is true, Mommy. Look at this castle garden!" Don't ask me! :)

Love this picture! He finally settled on this perfect pumpkin, and it was the only one he wanted to take, until he saw...

the big ones! Then he threw the small one down and tried with all his might to lift them.

Finally his daddy gave him a hand and we got them both back onto the hayride.

Check out our two little monkeys:

The've got some cheeks on them, right?!? I just love that Grayson actually let us take his picture! Those of you who know him well know that in the last year his patience for pictures has drastically failed, leaving us with pretty much 1 family picture since Ava was born. But today, even after tons of playing (and I mean, playing hard), he found it in him to give us a few.

And 30 seconds after we got in the car....

It was such a beautiful and fun-filled day! Again, there is nothing like sharing these experiences with our children...we felt so blessed to watch him enjoy so much!