Merry Death

Pumpkin Patch

Not wanting to be outdone by all the other parents this year, Phil and I fulfilled our duty to mediocracy by taking Vivienne on her first pumpkin trek. We went to the Ashland Berry Farm in Ashland, VA.

It was your typical pumpkin experience. We arrived as 40 minivans pulled into their spaces and let out a gaggle of Halloween themed wearing kids and J. Crew wearing adults. Every mom was either carrying an infant or pregnant with the next. I couldn't help thinking I was in the midst of "W" hell.

We stood in a small line and jumped aboard a hay-lined trailer being pulled by a fairly quiet tractor. We were just happy to not be on the "smoky" one, as Phil put it. It was a VERY bumpy 5 minute ride along dirt roads to a giant patch of green speckled with orange. They let us off and out we all scattered, probably 60 people on 2 trailers. Kids running this way and that. All of the pumpkins had been cut from the vine and were kind of 'sitting' where they had grown. I suppose that wasn't made to be a buzzkill, but I really thought that picking a pumpkin meant "picking" a pumpkin. No machetes were handed out, therefore I understand the pre-hacking.

We picked out 3 pumpkins, a tiny green one, a round one and a large, flat sided one (which Phil deemed perfect for his robot face.) Jumping about the trailer, we noticed we had picked the "stinky tractor" with the large smoke plume for the ride back. Luckily, there was a breeze so we neither smelled like smoke or died from exhaust fumes.

After all that "fun" we went out to lunch, went home, and promptly all took naps. It seems that being average is an exercise in itself when it comes to Phil and I.

posted by Metalmeredith @ 6:43 PM