Paulus Orchard

Last Saturday we went to another farm and I took my coworker with me.  She is from Easton, PA and works in our NJ office. We were actually on the phone together when the earthquake hit earlier this year.  I felt it and then a few seconds later she felt it!!  She has never carved a pumpkin in her 20 something years and I had to fix that when I found out.  We made plans back in August and I was excited when she arrived!  The orchard is about 15 minutes away and we were off soon after she arrived. 

The first thing we did was ride the tractor wagon.  Baylor loves them!  We were driven around the pumpkin patch and got a lay of the land.  Since it was a week before Halloween, the patch was pretty picked over but some hopeful signs were all the nice bright orange showing in the grass. 

As everyone knows, you are supposed to keep your head and arms inside the ride at all times but how much fun is that! 

Down there is the main store where the fork lift was working.  Next to tractors, Baylor loves to watch fork lifts! 

After the ride, the tractor is in the background, we found a wagon to take to the pumpkin patch.  Baylor wanted to pull it and did really well until we found pumpkins and it got heavy. 

We did not pick this guy but he was one with a nice cheese wheel shape. 

They also have a play area there.  We chose to go to the free one because the other side was $7.00 per adult and $5.00 per child.  I would not benefit from that money so we just avoided it.  Baylor was just as happy on the swing set and he made sure he tried everything. 

Here comes the tractor again! I was surprised he did not ask to ride it again. 

We all found a nice pumpkin to take home.  We shopped at the orchard market where I bought cider, more apples, and a little digger he found with gum in it. The gum was tossed when he was not looking. Megan, Addy and some of their friends were there too and we played on another swing set for a bit.

It was chilly and we had been out for a while so we headed out to lunch and then home. Baylor fell asleep on the way home and napped for the first half of carving.  I have tons of stencils for jacks and she picked one out. She started carving and got to gut her first pumpkin.  I cleaned the seeds and made Cinnamon sugar pumpkin seeds for her to take home. 

For her first jack she chose a medium hard face and did an awesome job on it.  Not that I would expect anything less from a Penn State grad! 

Baylor woke up and wanted to carve also.  His idea of carving was stabbing the pumpkin with the carving  tool, as you can see him in the background.  My jacks all look like they met Jack the Ripper! 

This is Zakiya's jack.  Is it not awesome!! 

Here are the two I made.  I am an old pro at carving and really love doing it. 

Baylor was very pleased with them also. He wants them lit when ever we can!  We have some more to do with the pumpkins we brought home last week.  Time is flying and I have some much to do at night I hope we get them done. 

Reynolds Farm

Have you ever been comfy cozy in your home, with no heat on mind you, so you get ready to go out on an adventure without checking the real conditions outside?  I am guilty of this nearing every day and it really gets me in trouble in fall and the spring also.  I just assume if I am comfortable inside, it should be nice enough outside.  Well, sometimes I am wrong, way wrong.  It did not help that it was a Saturday and there is no local news to tell me what is going on out there.  We do have lots of windows in the house so I can see in three directions between the living room and kitchen but apparently I never saw any signs of the wind.  We had plans with our friend Julie, Amy, and Cullen for a fall adventure at Reynolds Farm in Waynesboro.  It is about an hour from our house and we were running on lesbian time and were a half hour late!!!  The plant was down for the weekend and Lori was able to join us.  I love her schedule for Baylor but not for family time.  It is so limited unless one of us are on vacation.  And she is often off when we have plans with the McGraws which works out well. Cullen turned three in September and Baylor will be three in November. We both have chosen to not have a big party this year but wanted to celebrate together. Since we have not had a play date in a while, we decided to meet in October to celebrate together. 

So we arrive at the farm and of course have to find the loo first thing.  It was waiting out there we realized we were under dressed for the wind.  Lori and I can deal with it but Baylor was putting his hand to the back of his coat looking for a hood because his head was cold!  Poor little guy.  When I came out of the loo, Lori had found a little place to warm him up!  I miss the days when I was able to wear him in my wrap!!   

We meet up with the girls and they had a spare hat in the car.  It barely reached the bottom of he ears but it was greatly appreciated.  And super cute.  They needed the loo also and then we headed to a ride on the barrel cars.

They were an additional cost but worth it for the little guys.  The kid driving it said they were built on the farm and painted last winter or something.  We put Baylor in the John Deere but if I had given him a choice, I think he may have chosen an orange car.  Cullen was rocking his new lion hat they picked up on the way down to the farm.  The boys looked super cute! 

And then the ride started.  First they went into the corn field.  They were a row or two in so we could see them but I think they were too fascinated to even try to find us. 

Into the corn and out the other side! The took the kids on several loops through the field and brought them safely back to us. 

Then we boarded the hay wagon. Baylor had spied one with a front end loader and really wanted to ride the one it was pulling but it was not  running when we were ready to head up to the pumpkin patch.  We settled for the regular John Deere tractor and wagon and headed up to the pumpkin stop. 

It is pretty overwhelming to have to find a pumpkin in a huge field on a hill but it was gorgeous!  Other than being cool and windy, the sun was out and we warmed up.  We looked for huge pumpkins and found them.  Because of all the rain, there were some many we turned over to check only to see they were rotten on the bottom.  Amy found a mouse in one of them!  I wonder if it was making a little home like in the movies.  Baylor found the round pumpkin.  He had his first pumpkin patch experience when he was 11 months old.  Looking back at this old photos makes me cry every time! 

Two years later, he has hair and is taller but still has that beautiful smile. 

The girls and Cullen also found their pumpkins and we headed back to the pumpkin stop with our prizes.  Large pumpkins are quite heavy and I am glad we had help from the driver to get them on the wagon.  Men are good for two things and one is heavy lifting and while I usually can manage that by myself, it was nice having that help.   

The first thing we did when we got off the hay ride,  was find a wagon.  The tall pumpkin behind Cullen is ours and it ended up weighing more than Baylor!!!  At $.47 a lb it was also expensive. 

We missed the height chart at the Apple Festival so I am glad we found this one.  We have one at the apple orchard too.  I wonder why it is places we go to in the fall have these? Maybe we don't go anywhere in the spring?

We walked by the strawhorse but I did not put Baylor on it.  He spied it but was too far ahead of it and nearing his limit so we did not turn around for a photo shoot. 

See our family of pumpkins?  I cannot wait to carve them. 

After we put our pumpkins in the car, we headed to the play area.  Baylor wanted to feed the goats and they had a pretty neat system to feed them.  The feed goes in a cup on the belt.  The steering wheel moves the belt and the belt moves up to a platform. 

They had a huge tube slide and Baylor went down it once.  See the pink girl coming down backwards with her feet on Baylor's head?  Yes, that was the last time he went down that slide.  He stood up crying for Mommy and wanting a cuddle.  They also have a side by side racing slide and we went down that twice holding hands. 

Baylor really liked the hay area.  It was U shape with loose hay in the middle.  Baylor liked running on the hay bales and it was hard to get him off of them. 

See that smile?  He was loving his hay.

We got him away from it to go through the grass maze.  It was pretty cool other than the tassels whacking us in the face all the time.   We managed a loop and headed out towards the voices. 

Baylor showed Cullen how to feed the goats.

And then he found the sand box.  It was not easy getting him away from here but it was time to leave.  We were seeing signs of the upcoming meltdown and we still had to go to lunch with the McGraws.  He dug a few holes and was OK with the promise to jump in the hay.

This time he was brave and wanted to jump off the hay into the middle.  The first two times I held his hand but then...

He did it by himself!  And was very happy.

We went to Waynesburger for lunch and it was awesome.  It is owned by Greeks and they always have awesome restaurants in my experience!  I think both boys were asleep in minutes on the way home. I love fall adventures! 

Apple Festival

Grandma, Buddy, Baylor and I went to the Apple Festival last Sunday.  I wonder how long it will be before I get used to calling them Grandma and Buddy because I started out typing Mom and Dad.  Which they still are to me and I am glad they are enjoying their roles as Grandma and Buddy.  I think Buddy likes being called Buddy but I guess I should ask him that.  We have changed YaYa to Grandma since he can say that. Meme is still Meme to us and Mam to everyone else. 

Back to our day, which started with an AWFUL night's sleep for everyone in the house.  Baylor had a horrible night with night terrors, bad dreams and just general restlessness.  We don't have too many of those any more but it seems we often have them when my parents are in the house.  I am not sure they believe me when I say he usually sleeps really well because they just don't see that as often. Lori's alarm goes off at 4 am.  Baylor and I are used to it and sleep through it but Mom and Dad, not so much.  And their dog is 15 and restless at night and especially at our house. So by the time the sun was up, none of us were very awake and in natural good moods.  This does not bode well for a road trip but after we all had our coffee, we powered on and into the minivan.  Our goal is to get there early and leave early.  The place gets very crowed especially on the last day and especially when the weather was as beautiful as it was that day. The drive is about 45 minutes and was uneventful.  When Baylor saw the bus he started shouting, "Get me out of here," just like when we were at the farm show earlier this year. 

Buddy is his official bus buddy and they took their seats first.  It is a short trip but he loves it!

The first thing Baylor wanted to do was ride a tractor.  He remembers from last year sitting on the tractor that was running.  It must have been a really impressive experience for him to remember it a year later and he is not even 3.  We did not find a running tractor and all of them have signs to keep off but we found one in the corner and sat him on the tire.  Baylor enjoyed the tractors but he really wanted to just ride one. 'Lets find a tractor for me to ride,' he kept saying. 

We made our way to the hay ride to see if that would give him his tractor fix.  One the way we saw the Apple Butter being made.  Dad bought two jars right away. 

We saw the bluegrass band playing.  I secretly love bluegrass music and we listened for a bit.  But the call of the tractor ride was strong and we kept moving.

Finally we were in line and waited in line for three trips of the wagon before it was out turn. 

It was not what he wanted but was good enough for a smile. 

And the tractor was orange, which I think are really his favorite even over John Deere.

The family across from us was taking photos back and forth and I offered to take a family photo.  She kindly returned the favor.  For some reason Dad did not get on with us but I think it we made him mad about something so he stayed behind to take photos.

We walked over to the Tractor Square dance right after the hay ride.  I found a small space at the fence and took Baylor to the spot to see them up close.  I kneeled on the wet grass for over 30 minutes and took about 150 photos of them dancing.  I regret not taking the video camera though I did not know we would be seeing them.  Let me just say they were amazing!!  The age range of the drivers was 19 to 72 and they were Grandpa and Grandson. 

The pink Farmall and the green Oliver were husband and wife. 

Here they are again.

There were four other pairs but since they did not have a special bond, I cannot remember their names.  The man doing the calling said they do not do a routine, makes the calls and they have to keep up.  I think there were only a few times someone turned wrong, just got lost but thankfully there were no collisions.

Baylor watched them the entire time. 

And then they did this chorus line thing.  AMAZING. 

After that the whining started. It was mostly Baylor but... we were all tired.  We found some food and a good place to sit and then we headed to the petting area hoping to buy some more time.   

He was OK as long as he was petting something like the cow.

The sheep.

The goat.

But after the petting was done, so was he.  We made a stop at the changing cabin and changed his diaper.  That started the downward spiral in motion.  He did not want his diaper changed, he did not want that diaper, we don't use those wipes.  I carried him the rest of the way because his legs were broke.  I said that once to him and he of course latched onto it.  We had to walk back to our friend's booth to pick up our hummingbird yard art we had stashed there.  It is made from a railroad stake for the body, trowels for wings and a long steel wire for a bill.  It was at perfect eye poking height so we left it at their stand.  While sitting on any empty display resting Mom's hips, Baylor feel asleep in my arms.  We made our way to the bus pick up area and passed the photo area.  So no photo with the apple and yardstick this year.  I made it on the bus and he stayed asleep.  Dad picked us up and while putting him in the car seat he woke up.  And started crying and whining.  This lasted the entire ride home that was about an hour due to traffic.  Everything was wrong and I could not do anything right.  It was a long ride but at least we were leaving and not just arriving.  The traffic coming into the festival was backed up for miles.  No way!  There was no nap for any of us the rest of the day but at least the whining stopped when we got out of the car.  Mom and Dad headed home as soon as we got home.  Baylor and I had a quite afternoon playing and we were all thankful for bed time.