pumpkin hunting, part one (happy Oscoberfest!)

This year we joined our neighbors once again for their annual October breakfast and trip to Sauvie Island to hunt for pumpkins. This one was scheduled for October 13, so we decided to call it Oscoberfest, in honor of Oscar's half-birthday.

I realized that morning that this was the first year of pumpkin wearing when I haven't been able to pick out Lucy's outfit. I was pulling for a Gunne-sax style prairie dress that I thought would look really cute with dirt and rainboots, but she chose her tutu dress (you may have seen these dresses in a lot of pictures around here lately) and a pink hoodie which, as is typical, turned out to be a very stylish and photogenic selection.

There was some puddle-jumping, which reminded me of last year.

 

While we waited for the hay ride, Lucy rode her second pony ever with unbridled excitement. (Hee!) She had a bit of a stubborn pony, but she was patient, and one of the horsewomen walked right next to her and gave her some tips on how to give the pony a little kick with her heel to encourage him to move. So it was kind of like her first horseback riding lesson too. And also, probably her last, because I cannot afford for her to be very into horses.

After we lost patience waiting for the once-an-hour hayride and decided to just walk out the pumpkin patch, Lucy got another ride: this time on her Daddy's shoulders.

When that got boring, they switched places. Sort of.

The first field we came to was full of tiny pumpkins, which Lucy immediately started loading into the wagon, starting with the ones closest to her feet. An older girl that was with us, Savannah, took Lucy and Luca under her wing to guide a more discriminating search.

After awhile we decided those pumpkins were too small and kept moving. The final pumpkin patch itself was pretty great, definitely the best one we've been to since Lucy was born. The pumpkins were still attached to the vines and the field was in a state of slightly spooky decay, and there were wonderful tiny tree frogs hopping everywhere.The kids chased frogs and the grown-ups found sufficiently large or gnarled pumpkins, and then we all went home.

(On the way out Lucy said: "All the vines are dying!" I told her it was okay, it was just the time of year when the vines die because the pumpkins are done growing, but she said "But I feel sad for the vines!")