pumpkin patch

we took james to the pumpkin patch last year.  of course i knew it was more for me than for him and of course i thought "next year i'll be able to get the perfect picture".  nope, not so much.  james is a talker.  his teacher comments on how much he "talks" all the time.  so, in most pictures, he's making so weird facial expressions because he's jabbering away.  as of now, we can have entire conversations but he only says a few recognizable words but i know he's trying so hard that i entertain the idea.  i can't wait for us to have real conversations.  (it would make mommy/son date night much more enjoyable.  i took him out to eat, alone, while ben was on vacation.  we survived but it wasn't quiet as wonderful as i had hoped.) 

so, last year james didn't want to pose on the pumpkins and couldn't sit up.  here are some of the blooper snaps that i never posted.

it's rough to be james.  obviously.

this year james loved being outside and on the pumpkins.  it was a rainy day but we had a birthday party to attend and luckily it stopped raining for an hour so we could enjoy ourselves.  we just put some jeans and rain boots on and were set to go.  i tried and tried to get a good picture but he was talking, throwing the prop pumpkins and just too interested in everything else going on.  me and my camera were on the very bottom of his priority list.  i'm okay with that.  after a bit, i stopped trying and enjoyed the day.  all the pictures carry the true memory anyway.

james had a lot to say.  until...he got to ride a pony.  he loved it.  we didn't know it at the time because he didn't make a sound and had a death grip on the saddle horn but after james, and mr. h made many circles, mr. h deemed it time to get off the pony.  as soon as we put james down, he just wanted to get right back on.  it was so cute.  i'm so glad he enjoyed the ride.  he's a little cowboy already.  (go pokes!)

see those beads?  those were a party favor.  he loved them!  they are in every picture since he got them.  if he dropped them, they needed to be picked up immediately.  he didn't wear them like a girl as a necklace, but he was proud to have them. 

as a party favor, we were given food to feed the goats and chickens.  i think it was a makeshift petting zoo.  while the petting area was fun for some kids, james wasn't wanting to hold the food and have a strange animal eat off his hand.  he would watch very closely though if mr. h or i did it for him.  they also provided anti-bac hand sanitizer so i was game to feed the goats for him.  you would think they were either starving, poking their heads through the fence, or stuffed because they wanted nothing to do with you or the food you were offering.  i thought goats ate everything all the time.  i'm no expert though.  maybe these were picky goats. 

once it began to rain again, we knew it was time to go.  james was tired and we were ready to make the trek home.  overall, we had a great afternoon.  rain or shine.  it didn't matter.  i'm so glad we didn't let a little water stop us.  we're ready to take james to ride a pony again.  i hope there are more places throughout the year.  i would hate to have to wait another year for him to get the chance.

or we may take this handsome guy out to the pumpkin patch again this year.  twice in one year?  yea.  no problem.  we're proud to support local business anyway.