Grandkids at the Pumpkin Patch...

After Seth's game on Saturday, we went to the Silo Christmas Tree Farm's Pumpkin Patch. It is a wonderful 100 year old farm that has been restored and is open to the public during seasonal times of the year.  They sell fresh Christmas trees, have a bed and breakfast, and a small gift shop filled with hand made items produced by local artists.  It happens to be on the highway that runs between Temple and Gatesville so it was easy to just stop by on our way home. 

Maggie got to ride on the ponies at the Pumpkin Patch.  She was doing great until Poppy stumbled over a rock, startled the horses and caused Maggie's mount to bolt.  Luckily, the horse are attached to the poles and can't run off with their little riders!  Seth is such a sweet hearted little guy.  He was standing with me on the outside of the pony enclosure, watching the ponies plod around and around.  He said to me, "Poor old ponies.  You know they aren't having any fun."
Seth was a little old for most of the activities at the Pumpkin Patch.  But, Mimi never tires of giving him a big old smooch!
Seth is also such a wonderful big cousin.  He watched over Maggie all day.  There was a time or two when she started to tire out, and I would catch Seth trying to carry her around. 
Maggie was able to feed the goats at the petting zoo. Unfortunately, the goats were WELL fed so not very hungry.  She eventually just dumped the feed on the ground. There was a craft area set up near the farm house.  Little ones were able to pick a small pumpkin and paint it. Maggie is in a "pink" stage so she went home with a pink pumpkin.
We found a great spot to rest our tired feet and enjoy the scenery.  There was an old piece of farm machinery that had a row of hay bales sitting on the ground in front of it.  It would have been a wonderful photo spot if the beautiful, blue port-a-potties hadn't been in the background!
Seth had never played tether ball until our trip to the Pumpkin Patch.  There were 2 tether ball poles set up on the edge of the Christmas tree garden so we played a game or two.  We have decided that Uncle Scott needs to make us some for our back yards.  Seth also went on a hay ride with Poppy, Maggie and G.  He said it was okay except for the wagon sounding like it was about to fall apart.  

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a beautiful autumn afternoon with the grandkids.

This and that...

It is a quiet Saturday afternoon so I thought I would post a few random thoughts. I am sitting here with my feet up listening to Maggie snore and Daisy crunch her rawhide bone. Scott is in the guest room and Ron had driven to Killeen to help Ryan find a suit for interviews. I know the peace and quiet won't last long so I am enjoying it while I can.
It was a pleasant morning. I got up and weighed in at WW (lot another 2 lbs. to make a total of 9), went to Seth's football game (they are still undefeated with 1 regular season game left to play), went to lunch with the family at El Ta patio's (which was very hard; settled on Monterrey chicken with beans and rice, only ate part of it), then drove home with Maggie. She had stayed at Aunt B's house and did NOT want to leave. However, Becca has a party tonight so we have Maggie for the weekend. G's mother had to have brain surgery yesterday. She had been showing signs of Alzheimer's disease so the doctor ran tests and discovered she had a brain tumor. Leslie and G are down there with her now. She came out of surgery fine, but they couldn't get all of the tumor out. Don't know any more than that, but hope to find out more when Leslie gets home.
Oh and some interesting news: I may be adopting a 7 year old from Nigeria sometime this year. I have a little guy in my class that got sent to the refocus area twice this week. The second time, his eyes welled up with tears as he was filling out his refocus form. (It is a form that I have the students fill out and take to their parents so that they can explain their learning choices without saying "I don't know why I went to the refocus area") The little guy turned to me and said,"Mrs. Searls, my mom said if I had to go to the refocus area again, she was going to put me up for adoption!" I told him she was just kidding, but I couldn't convince him. So, I told him, "You tell mom that if she does put you up for adoption, I will adopt you." Crazy kid; he was so excited about that.
Anyway, I am rambling now, but feel like I have at least updated and that was my intent.