down on the pumpkin farm

our afternoon spent on the pumpkin farm yesterday is why i am completely smitten with this golden month of october.  sweet nostalgia oozed our of our autumn adventure and reminded andrew and i of why we are blessed to have grown up in the midwest.  how wonderful is it that we get to create new memories with our little ones that involve the same things we both loved as children.  parenthood is special like that.  

our time on the farm started off with baby goats and ended with warm pumpkin spiced doughnuts.  on the way home, stella said her favorite part of the trip was the doughnuts.  i would almost have to agree, stella bear.  although i loved my sugary treat and even licked all the cinnamon off my fingers, it was the savory bits in between the goats and doughnuts that i loved most…harvesting our own pumpkins!

we climbed aboard a big blue tractor and took a bumpy ride to the middle of what seemed at first glance to be a barren field, only to be completely surprised by a sea of pumpkins.  have you ever picked your own pumpkin?  the art of pumpkin picking was new to us, and frankly, marked the first of a new family tradition.  we are excited to bring our little ones back each and every year to select thee most perfect of pumpkins to carve for halloween.  romping around in the pumpkin field surrounded by dusty corn stalks was nothing short of magic.  to see all of the pumpkins at home in their rustic element and not in a grocery store parking lot resonated with us.  it just made sense.  we believe once you pick a pumpkin this way, it becomes the only way one must choose a pumpkin.  

last night when putting stella to bed she looked up at me and said, “mommy happy.  daddy happy. stella happy.”  there was no rising intonation in her tone.  no questions on her mind.  she was stating a simple fact…we are happy.  she knew we had a beautiful day together and wanted to make sure i knew it, too.  as a mother, her happiness is all i ever want.