Pumpkin Patch photos...see below for full story


 

Butler's Orchard

I love this time of year. The weather has been wonderful. We have had cool, clear days. The trees that line the sidewalks along with the forest that surrounds are slowly becoming a beautiful fall display. I love taking afternoon walks with the kids and noticing the changes and taking in the warmth of the sun drenched canopy of leaves. The beauty of home school is that the kids and I can take advantage of outdoor time during the week and avoid much the metropolitian crowds that saturate the seasonal hot spots during the weekend. One exception to this rule would be if it were Sunday(Daddy's day with us) or if family were in town. Which was each the case this Sunday.

So despite the day of the week, we ventured off to the local orchard for family pumpkin picking. I was surprised at the off the beaten path feel of this farm. As we neared of destination, the roads narrowed, the trees grew thick, and houses became sparse. I was transported to my home state and for a moment was fooled into thinking we weren't actually near a large city. The nostalgic feeling lasted but a few miles for as we entered the farm we were in line with dozens of vehicles all with the same intent, making a fall memory.

We didn't allow the crowds to discourage our fun. As soon as we were parked the kids squealed with delight at the sight of fields of pumpkins. The orchard provided wonderful wheel barrows with huge bicycle tires for easy steering. Being the experienced pumpkin pickers they are, Maddie and Michael went right to work. They would find one put it in the cart and proceed to find a better one and replace the first. This process went on for a while until we narrowed the finds to five. Lily all the while wanted to explore not only the pumpkins, but also the leaves on the ground, and ended up happily riding with the pumpkins in the wheel barrow. Mimi and Poppy joined right in with the hunt and helped keep everyone near.

After we weighed and paid, we drove down to the market area to look around. Again people everywhere but we were able to find some apples, mums, and a jar of peach preserves. Oh let us not forget Daddy's suggestion of purchasing caramel for making caramel apples. Which were fun to make and delicious to eat.

As Michael was bounding back to the van, I looked at my little boy and for one eternal "mom" moment I thought of how joyful he seemed. I projected to the future of when this experience would be grouped with others like it in his mind to be retold as memories. Delighting in the warmth of family life, I was struck with the realization that this phase would not last forever.

Thomas Day Pics

See below for narrative


 

A Day With Thomas

Michael's favorite times of the day are spent setting up an imaginary world of trains. The characters of the island of Sodor come to life each with a personality and with real life problems. I love seeing his imagination take shape as he lays tracks all over the house. Well a week and half ago I got to thinking about the "Day out with Thomas" tour and decided to look on the internet for a close stop. God's timing in all of this was that the train was coming near for the next two weekends. I tried to purchase tickets on line and on the phone, but they were sold out. My only hope was to pray they would have some to purchase as the station. Matt and I still wanted to take the kids but we did not want to reveal where we were going. So today was a wonderful fall day full of surprises.
We woke the kids up at 0600 to head out to Cumberland, MD for a surprise visit to the Island of Sodor. With no advance warning for them. Matt and I wanted to make meeting and riding on Thomas a magical experience. As we got closer to Cumberland, I announced seeing a sign that said we were 6 miles from Sodor and Tidmouth Station. Maddie and Michael imagined seeing steam from the trains and began in imagine all the sights of Thomas' world.
We arrived at the station a quarter to nine and could see Thomas up on the platform. Michael was beside himself in excitement. I ran to see if I could get tickets. Praying all the while, I was pleased to hear that there were tickets for every ride. We were set to board at 10am. We spent some time looking around at the other events of the day. Our first stop was the story hour. Before we knew it, it was time to meet Thomas. Lots of little ones, mostly boys, eager to get up and personal with the lifesized version of their favorite toy. The trip was about 20 minutes and then it was pictures in front of the "Really Useful Engine." One of the great highlights was Michael's meeting with Sir Topham Hatt. What the pictures did not capture was the huge hug he gave the larger than life character. After we took in all the events, we headed to the car for a picnic lunch. The weather was perfect, the memories will be lasting and I hope that for Michael a little childhood magic was fused into his already rich imagination of Thomas and his friends.