Pumpkin Patch

Chris forwarded me an email invitation to a pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins for free. We went and while I didn't put a lot of thought into it beforehand I was blown away but how many "extra" they had. And now I wonder how many will be left to go to waste...

This picture was not even half of the field of pumpkins! And they were all beautiful and round.
And sadly, this was the only picture of a person I got before the camera died and I found out that all our spares were dead too.

The real highlight of the trip, though, was the combine. The corn at the back of the first picture was combined over and it was amazing. The combine came within inches of where we parked the car and while Chris and I watched nervously the boys were both enthralled. Any pumpkin activity was suspended until the combine was too far away to be seen anymore. I don't know who invented them, but I think combines are one of the coolest machines. It goes over a field of corn, cutting the stalk, stripping and separating the corn kernels from the cob and everything else. While very windy, it was a successful trip and were happy to get our pumpkins for free!

A visiting professor from China has been on Chris' ride list (the only person on the list). She has been very kind in gifting us with some items from her homeland. We decided as part of our thank you to include some fall paintings that the boys did.
Grandmas and Grandpas, this view is for you!