Off to the Pumkin Patch

Every year we make the photo-op pilgrimage to the Farmer's Market to buy pumpkins and capture our children's joy at the changing seasons in pictures.

No, wait. That would be other people's children. Ours rampage through the stalls leaving destruction in their wake. I think Z dropped a minimum of a dozen assorted gourds and mini-pumpkins. She tried to pick up a pumpkin the size of a small car, but the sight of my head spinning completely around made her think better of it.

I was trying to photograph this fun little field trip with a camera borrowed from the in-laws. Let me just say, that Kodak Easy Share camera is the Worst. Camera. Ever. It has been temperamental for a while now, but I couldn't even make it snap a picture. Every time I hit the button, the lens would zoom in and out and the Easy Share screen would come up on the display. I poked and prodded, turned it off and on, toggled through menus, and mashed the shutter button in vain.

I looked up in time to see that Q had wandered back to the car and was leaning against it with his head. Just his head. The rest of him wasn't touching it at all. He had clearly had all the fun he could stand. Such stellar parenting!

Meanwhile, the Farmer's Market lady (the one with the ciggy hanging from the corner of her mouth like it was stitched there and a voice that sounded she'd taken up drinking brown liquor at a tender age) started following Z around with a plastic sack. At this point I realized that the picture taking venture was a colossal fail and that if I didn't get her out of there, Z was going to have the entire fall crop of (dropped/damaged) gourds in a sack on its way to the back of my car.

I let Z pick out a big pumpkin, or more accurately, steered her toward an acceptable big pumpkin. I picked out a lumpy, kind of purple-y boutique-y pumpkin and we had a white one at home already. Zoe got her bag o' gourds and we headed back to the house.

I had every intention of letting the kids decorate the pumpkins this afternoon, but being fine parent that I am, I got sucked into making Z's costume and completely forgot about the 20 pounds of pumpkin rolling around in the back of my car. Guess we'll do it tomorrow. I got these cool adhesive foam face pieces, so it will be interesting the see how Z puts them together!