Pumpkin Patch with Auntie

On Saturday, we made our annual trip to Stuckmeyer's with Auntie to pick pumpkins. We have gone every year since Alex was little. We always have a blast. This year, the temperatures were perfect...very fall-like. Last year when we went it was 90 degrees and so not pumpkin picking weather! As soon as we got there, Olivia went over and decorated a teeny-tiny pumpkin. Then she got to do her most favorite thing ever...ride the horses. She waited patiently in the line and couldn't wait to get on. They fitted her with a helmet and were going to put her on a little pony. Nope, she's an expert so she got to ride Moonlight. The only issue was we couldn't call the horse "Moonlight". The horses name was "Frosty" according to Olivia. Frosty was the name of the very first horse Olivia rode at Stuckmeyer's so every year she calls her horse "Frosty". When Olivia proclaimed this was not Moonlight but Frosty, the lady remembered her and asked if this was her Frosty girl. I just need to say that my little girl is an expert horseback rider. Her body moves so fluidly with the horse. At one point, she was so comfortable that she left one hand on the horn of the saddle and put one hand on the back of the saddle and just looked around. Totally cracked me up. After riding Moonlight, Auntie gave her $5 so she could ride again. This time, she wanted to ride the biggest horse they had. This horse was named Celia and she actually called it Celia. Celia was huge but Olivia still loved her!! After the horses, we went into Fort Spooky. The kids did a corn maze, played on the big playground and bounced a little on the bouncy slide. Now for the moment we were waiting for...going out and picking the perfect pumpkin. These pumpkins were huge and perfect for carving. I had picked up a few pumpkin carving books at the library for Alex and so he knew exactly what kind of pumpkin he wanted to pick. Once the perfect pumpkins were found, we went in and got a few more pictures and then paid for everything. We had to take our usual trip to the Stuckmeyer store and have a look around. As Liz and I were looking at something, Olivia says to me, "look Mom, they have apples". I take the apple she has in her hand and see that she has taken a bite out of this apple. Perfect. Liz's reaction was "Guess you're buying that apple". Yep, guess so. When I went up the counter, I told the girl I wanted to buy the apple my daughter ate. She indicated it was one of the most expensive and biggest ones they have. Even more perfect. This one apple cost $1.50. Crazy. But it was crazy delicious too. We all took a few bites out of it. Then time for one more pony ride only this one was mechanical. I am in so much trouble when Olivia learns that horses can be a hobby. It was a perfect day filled with family and fun! We can't wait to carve our huge pumpkin. I'll post pictures of that soon.