when the husband's away, the wife will play

Or at least she'll go pumpkin patching. (She might also eat a block of cheddar cheese and possibly make it a personal goal to watch seasons 5-9 of The Office in one week.)

When Jenn asked if I wanted to go to the pumpkin patch with them, it took me all of 3.2 seconds to respond with an enthusiastic, "letmethinkaboutit YES!" (The auto correct on my phone tried to change 'letmethinkaboutit' to 'perms turnabout'.) Beyond the obvious appeal of pumpkin patching with some favorite peeps, another visit with Jenn would mean we'd have more time to discuss our favorite topics- blogs, chocolate, Pinterest, and bloggers we don't know but wish we did/are glad we don't. Then we usually talk about blogs a little more just for good measure. We've seen each other four times this week and we talked about those every single time. Frankly I don't see any change on the horizon. 

WARNING- picture overload ahead.

The pumpkin patch was way out in the middle of nowhere. Out in the boondocks. The sticks. We may have driven all the way to the west coast. I do know one thing for certain- we yelled "LOOK SAM! IS THAT A HELICOPTER?" every two minutes for an hour. I think one time I pointed out a helicopter that was actually a bird. I never was good with aircraft. Our lengthy expedition (which may or may not have included Jenn using a police turn around on the highway) was not in vain because look what Sammy found when we got there! 

I LOVE Molly. Is she not the cutest baby ever?! 

We spent a significant portion of our visit looking at the goats and two pigs that were (no exaggeration) as big as refrigerators. Eventually we boarded an ancient ANCIENT truck and took a hay ride to the corn maze and pumpkin patch.

You'll notice Sam's look of concern. He was worried, as we all were, that we'd either be flung to the floor when the truck came to a screeching halt or that it was going to die. Both were valid concerns.

This is the point where I should insert some witty saying about how a corn maze is like life because we are presented with different paths along the way, but I can't think of any.

Thanks to our fearless leader we navigated through the maze and arrived back at the truck in one piece. Samster did trip over invisible rocks an unusual number of times, but he didn't break any bones so I call that a success.

Look at little Sammy's face! I just informed him that he has the distinct privilege of being my littlest boyfriend and he was obviously delighted. 

Looks like a pear on steroids.

"I don't know why you people are so enthusiastic about pumpkins and old tractors. I much prefer chewing on Mother's keys." 

"Actually, I could be doing this in the comfort of my own home. If we were at home, you two ladies wouldn't have to keep lifting my stroller in and out of the truck. Perhaps you should work on your arm muscles. The lifting appears to be a strain."

"WHAT IS MOTHER DOING NOW? Is she...no...she can't be...WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE SHE'S STEALING PUMPKINS? I am so embarrassed. I hope no one knows we're related."

Much to Molly's great delight, her pumpkin-stealing mother (I promise she did pay) tried taking her picture near the sunflowers. At least I think that's what was happening on the other side of the sunflower patch. I couldn't see them but I heard crying and someone saying, "Moooooolly! Look over heeeeeere." so I imagine it was a photo session. 

I was busy helping Sam get up and down from the tractor seat approximately 12 times. He couldn't decide if he liked it the first time so he had to try it out 11 more times. 

And so ended the The Great Pumpkin Patch Expedition of 2012. I'd be happy to do it again tomorrow, but especially happy if I knew there would be some snacks involved. Sam ate the last oriental rice cracker thing and we were down to our last cough drops and sticks of gum. 

Hop over and read Jenn's account of our day. It involves a highly flattering photo of me watching a goat eat Sam's hand.