Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere

First of all, can I just say I'm so glad that Halloween is just around the corner because that means all the restaurants are rolling out their pumpkin options...Pumpkin milkshakes, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin drinks. I think it's a crying shame all that great stuff is only offered this time of year. Does anyone else out there feel the same?
Now that the important stuff has been said, we recently had a chance to enjoy some pumpkins of the inedible variety at a couple of pumpkin patches. One was in Utah with our friends the Ishiis before we rolled out of town for Texas and the other was with family in Oklahoma.
Riley didn't care too much for the pumpkins, but he did seem to enjoy the fact that both places had a petting zoo of sorts. The first place in Utah had a huge obese pig. I'm not exactly sure how much he weighed (and believe me, it was extremely evident this pig was a he) but it had to have been A LOT. The poor pig was so fat all it could do was lie there and wallow, surrounded on all sides by pumpkins. The other petting zoo in Oklahoma was great too because you could buy little grain packets (at 500 times the actual retail price) and feed all the little goats. Riley loved it. He would laugh and laugh as the dirty little things slimed him with their runny noses and discolored tounges. I had to cringe a little, but as a mother of an extremely active little boy, there must come a time when you have to trust that hand sanitizers really kill all the things they say they do.

Riley loved the wheelbarrow ride, as long as we didn't stop moving.
Same thing with the ponies. Once they started trotting around in their little circle, he was as happy as can be. When they stopped and he had to get off, it was another thing. My mom had to pry his strong little fingers off the saddle.

He's got the cowboy stuff down. What a natural.


I love the look on Riley's face. "What the heck is that thing my mommy is holding?"