The Pumpkin Patch

I had forgotten the joy of taking my children to a pumpkin patch to hand-select their own special jack-o-lantern. This past weekend I travelled, once again, down I-5 with my trusty co-pilot riding shotgun on my shoulders to sunny Sacramento. The ultimate purpose was Dylan's dedication on Sunday. The fun part was two-fold. First, we all went to watch Brianna play soccer. Her team won 6-2! She did an amazing job and it was fun watching her play. Second, we went to Apple Hill (along with the rest of the west coast) to several different farms. I guess this is quite an annual thing, because there were about 50 different areas for kids with corn mazes, hay mazes, lots of different pumpkin patches to choose from, pony rides, petting zoos, etc. For the adults there were craft booths, the Fudge Farm, and numerous places where you could do wine tasting. We stopped several times and took the boys out walking up and down hills, up and down stairs, through the fields, down the apple lanes, up to the petting zoo, then back to the car for another farm further down the lane. We had freshly made apple cider, almost had apple cobbler but the line was too long and not moving nearly fast enough. At the end of the day we were exhausted but pleased with our day. The drive home was extremely slow (because the rest of the west coast decided to go home as well) but we arrived safely home.

Another special memory for me on Saturday evening, after everything had settled down and we had eaten dinner. Tyler came up to David and said, "Daddy, can we go outside and play catch in the park." For David I think that was the icing on the cake. He has always wanted to have his son ask him to go play catch. The look on his face was priceless.

Sunday was the day for Dylan's dedication. Brianna asked me what a dedication was. (Great...no one said there was going to be a test!) After thinking for a minute (without a Kit Kat bar) I asked her if she remembered inviting God into her heart when she was baptized. I explained that Dylan was too small to make that decision yet so being dedicated was like becoming a book-mark in God's book, so that if anything ever happened, he would go straight to heaven because he already had a place set aside especially for him. Anyway, that seemed to answer the question for her so all was well. Debbie took pictures for me so I have some wonderful memories of the day.

Monday it was time to come home. It's gets harder and harder to leave everyone. Brianna is growing into a beautiful young woman, Tyler has hit the terrible two's with a vengence, and Dylan is content to just hang out with his brother. I envy Tonia. I'm so glad she is able to stay home with the boys and watch them grow. I missed all those important milestones with my own kids.

Anyway, I have a gazillion pictures, I developed 178 of them today to share with everyone, and will pass the really special ones on to family and friends. As I settle in for the night I just want to say again how truly blessed I am with all my children and family and friends. I couldn't be any richer than this.

Love me