The Most Perfect Sunday

Do you ever have a day when you just think "This can't get any better?" and then it does???  Today has been like that. 

I slept until almost seven, got up intending to go to church early... got showered... and then realized I was rushing.  I have promised myself that I will no longer rush on the weekends... life is not about rushing.  I slowed down, Keith went out and opened up the bird houses and fed the llamas... and I took a deep breath, made some cookies, read the paper, and fixed some scrambled eggs for our breakfast.  I went to church at 10:30.  I was relaxed and happy, and got so much more out of the service. 

It helps that the morning was absolutely gorgeous... temps in the forties... warming up to 75.  I came out of church and got a call from oldest son Jim, whose wife lost and then got her job back when her company was sold this week.  I had invited them to come and bring the two smallest grands, Jax and Paiton, to the Kerby Pumpkin Patch in
Bonner Springs for a treat. 

I loaded the cookies, some magazines and lots of coupons for Amy in the car, made sure the camera was with me before I left for church, and then drove on down to meet them.  They followed me to the pumpkin patch, and we had so much fun.  I'll share some pictures with you.

Whoops... that's not the Pumpkin Patch... the neighbor's calves came over to say goodmorning as I was leaving for church.

Here we are at the entrance to the patch.  I took Nathan there three years ago, and you could walk right in and play and never pay... they got smart and made a designated entrance, through the teepees (there is another to the left).  I thought this was very smart, after all, this is a farming family who makes significant income from this short-term yearly venture.  Entrance fees are five dollars per person, age three and up. 

There was a line of pens as you walked in, with a calf, a minihorse, some chickens, three little Duroc pigs, and some goats.  The truth is, the kids had so much play equipment that they did not look at the animals for more than a few minutes.

Here was something simple to make that the kids loved, not just my own grands.  They were shallow sandboxes (again, there were two) that sat on four cement blocks, two that were two high on each side.  The simplest thing to do ever.  In the winter, the tops can be removed and put in the barn to be protected from warping.  As you see, the kids loved them... they had cars, trucks, bulldozers, etc. on them in the sand, and these could be raised or lowered depending on the height of the kids.  Keith saw this picture and is going to make one for us.

There were LOTS of simple photo ops.

and so much to do that the kids wore us out.

There was a corn maze, and they had a sign up to please not pick the corn, as it really WAS one of their crops!  It was a good maze.

They had two zip lines, one for little kids to 75 lbs, and one for bigger kids to 125 pounds.  The kids LOVED this!  After following Jax and Paiton down once, they went on it alone and LOVED it.

That's Jax hanging the first time and Jim running alongside.  By the third time, he was jumping off, grabbing the line, and running it back up to the high school boys running the lines, that you see behind them.  He LOVED it, and so did Paiton. 

There was a scary house in a small building... it was dark inside and full of noises, but the scariest parts were not really too bad for little kids, and Jax asked me to take him again.

There were hotdogs and chips and drinks... and picnic tables to eat them on.

There was a ride on the wagon down to the actual pumpkin patch, but they also had picked pumpkins in the barn for you to choose from.  Pumpkins were going for 42 cents a pound.  They grow the pumpkins there, but they clean up most of the vines before they open the patch, as it prevents falls. There were few vines left.

Not that I'm showing off my grandkids or anything.

Big slides... this was FAST and Paitie loved it.

and smaller slides, and tunnels, and a little schoolhouse with a desk and a chalkboard and colored chalks to write or draw with.  There were simple swings, too, and all were put to good use by the kids. 

And of course, there were plenty of places for cowboys and cowgirls to have a good time.  There were two old labs there, and everytime Paiton and Jax passed them, they squatted to pat the doggies... I love them for this.

All in all, a most perfect day... thank you Kerby Farms for the experience!

www.Kerbypumpkinpatch.com

And thanks Jim, Amy, Paiton and Jaxton for going with your gran to the pumpkin patch!  See you there next year!