I guess there is such thing as too late

Just as a warning to whomever may choose to read this post, you are more than welcome but beware that it's a rambler. I have a threefold mission for this blog. In order of importance 1. I will eventually have this made into a book, my sad excuse for family history. 2. To help family and friends keep up with the goings on in the Wisdom family. 3. As an outlet for whatever is rolling around in my head. This started as 1 and 2 and evolved into 3. Just sayin. I love the pumpkin patch. Never went as a child. Was that even a thing back then? We always just went to the grocery store to pick out 1 family pumpkin and then somehow everyone carved it. I could be making it up. It's just the way I remember it. Did they have pumpkin patches when we were kids? Anyway, I've been a convert ever since that first pre-school field trip 10+ years ago. Every year we go to the Job's u-pick patch a Saturday or two before Halloween. No hayride, no corn maze, no petting zoo. Just you, the pumpkins and sharp implements. I love everything about it. Everyone knows I love everything pumpkin especially the patch. I love the cool air. Not if it's cold mind you, but cool. I love watching the kids run around picking out the perfect pumpkin. I love listening to Rob think out loud about the perfect design for each pumpkin he considers. I even love trying to figure out how to haul all those pumpkins back to the front of the store without loosing any over the low sides of the wagon. So, Saturday was our day. We were even done with soccer. What could be better? Oh yea! Our kids are big and have lives. Autumn and Devin wanted to spend the day with Grandma Leonard (duh) and I just couldn't stand the thought of going without them so we just decided that Rob would take off work at 4:00 on Monday and we would have an early FHE at the patch and come home to carve. Perfect..... Oh yea, 4:30 piano lesson. That's okay. Rob took off at 5:00 and we were on our way. While driving out we were debating how much daylight we had left when I got the bright idea to call Job's and ask if they had been paying attention to what time it gets too late to look for pumpkins. All I got was voicemail. Job's closes at 5:00. Oh yea, it is a business. FHEwas a bust. Not to worry. Tomorrow's another day. So today Rob took off at 4:00 and we head for the patch. Not at hitch. Woo Hoo! Only thing is, a very inconvenient thing happens the longer pumpkins sit in the patch.... They start to rot.

Devin was much more interested in stomping on the dead rotting corpses of once beautiful pumpkins than with choosing the perfect specimen.

Siri, on the other hand took the job very seriously. She looked high. She looked low. She looked near. She looked far. Finally she announced with pride and glee, "I found one!!!"




OH!

Never mind. :'-(

It's okay. The second one's the charm.

Eventually, everyone found a pumpkin and we found Autumn. The second she hit the patch she was off. Never to be seen.

Maybe it's too late in the season for the pumpkin patch. Maybe it's just too late in my family's life. The older kids barely tolerated the whole excursion. Instead of the big family carving ritual, the girls and I made our jack-o-lanterns while Devin played on the computer and Rob went on Elders quorum visits. The rest of the week is filled with mutual, orchestra concert and, well, Halloween. I guess it's time for us to adjust to a new stage in life. Does this mean I'm not dragging them to the pumpkin patch next year? Heck no!!!