Evan loved it! He loved seeing all the planes. Those parked on the tarmac, those taking off, those landing, and so forth. He also loved his "full flaps" breakfast of flap jacks (pancakes), eggs, and bacon. John drank some "jet fuel" (coffee) and had a "top gun" (breakfast burrito). I couldn't get enough of the neat names they had for things at this little cafe truck, and how the lady running the stand (as well as everyone who ordered) used them. In fact, as soon as we walked up she offered to get some jet fuel for us while we decided what else to order. Haha!
Gazing up at the planes and parachutes! ( Of course we had to put him in his aviation bomber jacket for the airport outing!)
After spending some time at the airport, it was mid morning and we decided we'd drive over to the local pumpkin patch place and see what it was all about. We'd never gone to the one right outside of town, but we'd driven by it before and I knew it had a little hay maze for the young ones and thought Evan may like that. However, when we arrived it was clear we were not the only ones with this idea today. It was really packed. In fact, we ran into some of our neighbor friends there too! We had told Evan we were going to get a pumpkin...so he had been saying "pumpkin" since we left the airport. However, when we drove up, he said "yay, a party!" It was busy and it was full of fun things for kids to do, so I can see why he thought that...though I typically refer to crowded events like that as a "zoo"!
When we first arrived we saw lots of people hauling their pumpkins (big orange ones and little kid ones!) around in red wagons. As soon as Evan came upon the first pile of pumpkins he was trying to pick one up. However, it was too big and even if he succeeded he wouldn't be able to carry it far. So we convinced him we needed to get a wagon too. He loved it! He pulled it all over and then finally made it over to an area with more pumpkins and chose one that he was able to pick up and put in the wagon. Then he hauled that all over to find the rides that he wanted to go on.
Emma sleeping as we hunted for pumpkins.
Even this relatively small pumpkin was pretty heavy, but he lifted it!
What I loved about this place was that most of the rides they had were just right for Evan to go on! However, they all took a certain number of tickets, which were $1 per ticket, so we had to be a little choosey what to let him go on so we didn't blow the bank there! We selected a few that we thought Evan would like (the jumping/bouncy castle and the "train" ride). He then selected one other ride that he really wanted to go on: the cars! We figured the hay maze can wait another year.
First was the bouncy castle. When we walked up to it the lady let him in right away...however we later learned that we got hosed on that because the other kids who had been in there before him got way more time than he did! It wasn't very long after Evan had entered that she said, "okay time's up and everyone out!" Well, Evan had just gotten started! And he's not been one for getting off bouncy things easily, since he loves to jump and bounce so much! Not to mention I wasn't happy that he got shorted either, so let's just say we weren't too pushy on him to get him out. We let him avoid our calls as long as the lady let us...hehe. Then finally she made John go in after him. There went a few bucks!
Then we headed to the "train". It was such a cute farm-sytle train ride that had a little tractor as the engine and hollowed out and colorfully painted barrels on wheels for the cars. That was so much fun for him too. He kept calling out to me "Mommy I'm riding train!" It was the first ride he'd ever been on that he was in the little car by himself and that I stood there and watched him ride away from me! That was a big moment for me. John followed behind the train to get more photos and video, but for a moment there I was thinking, "am I really supposed to let him ride off on this thing without me being right there with him?" (sigh...he is growing up!)
Evan rode in the "caboose"
Heading back to the cars ride...on the only free ride: the wagon ride! haha...
If I thought that the train ride made me feel a little sentimental as a parent, I had no idea what I was in for. The cars ride was by far the most sentimental for me. Why you ask? Well, again he was in this ride all by himself (it was really designed just for the lil ones, but seeing Evan on this by himself made me realize how big he's become!), he was so excited about going on this ride, and then when he rode it, he was just *so* into it. He kept saying "Mommy, I'm driving!" He said it with so much pride and at the same time he took this ride very seriously. Some kids would wave at the people they passed, but Evan was very seriously turning the steering wheel and focusing on the "road ahead". I think he really thought he was driving this thing! He always wants to drive our cars (yes, I know this is dangerous and I don't like it, but he's really into sitting in our drivers seats and pretending to drive...supervised of course!), and so this was his chance to really drive a little car. He's at that age where there is so much magic and wonder in the world and a ride like this gave him fun and excitement, while it also made him feel grown up too I think. My sentimental feelings are really tied to imaging how this ride must have felt to him, and all the magic and awe that he felt. It just made me so happy to see my son so happy and having fun in such a "grown up" way.
There was a giant blow up slide that was a fire truck by the cars ride. Evan said "it's King!", as in the ladder truck in his DVD Mighty Machines is called. :) This one was called "Big Red" though...to my liking. :)
Emma started to stir after Evan finished driving the cars ride (she had slept through our whole morning outing thus far...imagine that!), so we went and paid for our pumpkin and headed to the car. It had been a long morning and was now almost lunch time, and I could tell Evan was getting tired too as he was nearly falling asleep on the short drive home. All in all, it was a wonderful autumn day for our family. Evan had a ton of fun, and so did John and I. Now we just need to find some time to carve our pumpkin and we'll be all set for Halloween and the rest of fall.
Posing for a photo with my boy before we loaded up in the car to go, and he wanted to feed me some of the caramel corn he had gotten a sample of. Sweet boy for sharing! :)
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