10.28.18 - The Pumpkin Farm

Halloween is on a Wednesday this year and it's also going to be Clara's third day at her new preschool. We might take her and Jane trick-or-treating briefly in Beth's neighborhood if they and Hunter all feel up to it, but I expect at least Clara will be too tired so we'll see. That said, today may serve as our Halloween celebration of the year and, if so, that works just fine, because today was great.

Even though they could have slept in, the girls woke up around 7:30 am. That gave us plenty of time to eat breakfast and get dressed in Halloween-related outfits before Henry arrived--he drove up from the bay area just to do pumpkin patch day with us, which was great. We packed the girls into their car seats and gave them each Halloween books to read: Halloween ABCs for Clara and Five Little Pumpkins for Jane. Then we caravaned over to The Pumpkin Farm in Carmichael and parked just in time to see Beth, Jake, and Hunter taking their pumpkins to the car (they weren't leaving yet, they just didn't want to carry the pumpkins around). Clara was really excited when she saw Beth and Hunter from her window! She and Hunter sort of ran up to each other and Hunter showed her his miniature pumpkin. Such good buds. <3

We all went back in and Beth bought some popcorn and suckers for the big kids (I googled quickly and Charm Blow Pops are gluten free!) Clara was excited about but also didn't really understand her sucker and just kind of held it and reveled in its existence, so for the time being I took it back lest she drop it in the dirt.

We went and checked out the goats and pigs and sheep. Clara made all their correct noises. We walked past an empty chicken coup only to see the chickens leaving through a hole in the fence, which was kind of funny. No one seemed too concerned about it. At that point we saw the "train" coming round the bend and Clara was psyched. She waved to everyone as they went by and of course many of them waved back. Then we walked over to the big field of medium pumpkins and she and Jane examined many but touched very few. We also saw a hay ride go by and more waving ensued. Clara was just very excited about everything, it was great.

Waving at the hay ride.

Beth et al had to get going at that point but we stayed. I got train ride tickets for everyone except Henry, who opted out, and MAN Clara was excited about the train. Last year she had been a little unsure about boarding it but this year she was ready to go. In fact I'm almost positive we sat in the same cart. When the conductor came by to shut our door Clara giggled excitedly and he clearly got a kick out of that. And when the train actually started she couldn't stop laughing and stimming, it was so sweet. We rode past Henry and she waved enthusiastically. Later she started singing her own rendition of Wheels On The Bus that was instead about trains. And then we past Henry again! Haha.

Jane, on the other hand, was very stoic. Not fussy but clearly zone-y and tired and unsure. To be fair if Jane were the oldest we wouldn't have bothered with any of this because she's not old enough to really get it or enjoy it. She just gets dragged along because Clara's old enough to be excited. So it goes.

Once the train ride was over Clara didn't want to leave, and I thought she might start throwing a fit, but actually she handled it very well. She fussed slightly but was soon ready to look at other things. We went over to the much larger pumpkins and picked one out to actually carve. Jack got a wagon for the pumpkin and Jane, and soon we added Clara to the mix and she seemed happy to ride in it.

We also got them two $1 miniature pumpkins to hold onto. Again Clara was excited and Jane was nonplussed. After buying our pumpkins we stopped by the big "Pumpkin Farm" sign and Henry took some great family pics of us (with his significantly superior phone camera).

Of course Jane fell asleep on the ride home but Clara was awake and cheerful. I had put the big pumpkin between their car seats and she kept touching it and asking for help, so instead I put it in her lap. She kept calling it the "momma pumpkin" to her "baby pumpkin" and played with both a lot (although she kept dropping the baby pumpkin). She was really interested in the bigger pumpkin and held it the whole way home.

Once we were back, Jane went down for a real nap and Clara played with the three pumpkins. She was just strong enough to carry the larger pumpkin around the apartment, and she kept moving it to different spots (desk, coffee table, kitchen table) and then examining it. Eventually she brought out the blanket from my room and "tucked in" the three pumpkins and said they were sleeping. Then she put them all under the desk and stuffed the blanket over them. Etc. She was very busy for a long time.

Meanwhile Henry and I visited and I made some bacon spinach pasta for lunch. The adults all enjoyed it but Clara wasn't interested. I eventually got her to eat 6-8 bites in exchange for that sucker she hadn't had earlier, and once she got the sucker, no joke, it took her about an hour to eat that whole thing. she was busy with it for a long time and her lips and around her lips got all red, it was pretty cute. Eventually Jane woke up from her nap and sat disgruntedly in my lap while she ate the rest of Clara's pasta. So that worked out.

When lunch was over Jack stood at the dining room table and scooped out the big pumpkin; Clara was very interested in the whole process and basically narrated what was happening and kept trying to fit the lid (I think at one point she called it the "head") back on properly. Once Jack finished scooping I carved the most classic Jack-o-lantern face, and she watched most of that too. Then we put a candle in and she was amazed, just as I hoped she'd be. At that point Jane was also pretty interested, although she seemed more fascinated by the match I used to light the candle. Still, definitely got her attention.

Jack went through all the goop and got the pumpkin seeds, washed and dried them, added some seasoning, and baked them. The apartment smelled wonderful. When the seeds were done Jane was actually a bit suspicious but Clara really liked them, which is great because apparently they are nutrient dense and high fat.

The rest of the afternoon Henry and I visited while he half played with the kids. Eventually he ran to Costco to get rotisserie chicken and potatoes and grapes, and while he was gone I let the kids watch a bunch of Super Simple Songs Halloween renditions. When he returned I made mashed potatoes and we had those with the chicken, and even Clara ate most of her share. Incidentally by now Jane was fully awake and not fussy or perhaps the first time all day, so that was pretty nice.

Jack left to get Clara's lunch box for her first day of preschool tomorrow, and Henry did most of the post-dinner cleaning while I just hung out with the girls, which was really nice. When Jack came back we visited some more but Henry headed out around 6:30pm so we could give the girls a bath before bed. While Jack bathed them I made Clara's lunch for tomorrow: tortillas, grapes, and more pumpkin seeds. And I somewhat marveled at how I'm already making one of my children lunch for school (of sorts). Jane finished her bath first, which I figured out when she wandered into the kitchen buck naked. I got her dressed and then read to her while she rested against my chest for a long time. Clara dawdled in the bath tub (supervised by Jack).

When they were done we got them ready for bed but before actually turning in for the night, we turned off all the lights and lit up the Jack-o-lantern again. Clara just sat at the table and stared at it.

Not long after that we put them to bed and I decided to memorialize such a sweet day.

Pumpkin Farm 2017 & 2018