Friday brought a busy schedule of events for the girls and I. Both of the girls had field trips at pumpkin farms, and I attended with Mimi. Annie was sad that I wasn’t planning on going with her. I told her it was because I always went with her on all her preschool field trips, and this was Mimi’s first school field trip. She was fine with it after I explained it that way. Although Annie is going through this very egocentric stage where she gets her feelings hurt quite easily when someone other than her gets a compliment or affection. For instance, if I kiss Mimi’s boo-boo, then Annie will say something like, “You don’t love me anymore?!?” She even pulls the “You don’t love me” card when I’m scolding her about something. It’s tiring, I tell ya.

Anyway, back to the field trips. I don’t have many details about Annie’s adventure other she got to go on a hayride, pick a pumpkin, and go in a “corn pool”. Apparently, the corn pool was a large, wooden box with dried corn kernels in it, and the kids took off their shoes and played in it. That sounds kind of relaxing, actually.

Since I was with Mimi for her field trip, I have a lot more to tell and pictures, too. This was Mimi’s first time on an official school bus, and she was quite excited about that event.

I was amazed at how much they had to offer at Green Meadows Farm.

The tour guide started the kids off with a pony ride. Mimi wasn’t that enthusiastic about this because she’s been there, done that. She made sure to tell Farmer Kim, our tour guide, that she had already ridden on a pony.

Farmer Kim next took the kids over to Chloe the Cow, and each child got a turn to milk her. Mimi was more than willing to give it a try.

The farm had tons of animals to visit. The kids were allowed to pet and sometimes chase and pick up certain animals. There were donkeys, pigs, llamas, turkeys, goats, chickens, chicks, bunnies, and kittens. Needless to say, a lot of hand sanitizer was used throughout the day.

Some of the animals seemed to actually like the chaotic children running at them. A couple of them gave Mimi a kiss, namely Dolly the Llama and Mr. Goat. Unfortunately, Mimi was willing to reciprocate each time.

Many people commented at how brave Mimi was about picking up the animals. She went for it every time with much gusto.

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After lunch break we went on a hayride. The next stop was to pick out our pumpkins. I wimped out and made Mimi and I pick small ones so that I wouldn’t be stuck lugging around heavy objects. Mimi was fine with settling for just a small punkin, like herself. Finally it was time to head home. I was so tempted to nap on the bus ride home, but I figured I better stay awake at least until the car ride home.

However, this wasn’t the end of our day. Our church congregation had their own pumpkin farm event in the evening which included hayrides, chili cook-off, s’mores, and pumpkin picking. Since I’m part of the activities committee for our ward, I had to purchase and bring 12 gallons of apple cider, arrive early to help set up, and leave after the end of the event to help clean up. I was also in charge of making and bringing marshmallow roasting sticks (I have a welt on my belly fat after pinching my skin between the handle of the pruning clippers…OUCH). Thankfully, Annie and Mimi were plenty satisfied to run around all night with all the kids in attendance so that I could focus on helping with the event. The girls and I were plum tuckered out by the time we got home. I had to sit each of the girls on the bathroom counter in order to brush their teeth while they were half-asleep, and they were not happy when I made them wake up long enough to go potty one last time before bed.

Overall though, we had a wonderful day and the weather was absolutely perfect for all these events–chilly but not too cold.

I know this is already a super, long post, but Mike wanted me to tell everyone that he shot 2 does with his bow while on his hunting trip in SD. His friend also got a deer and an antelope. So we’ll have lots of meat to keep us fed this winter. Don’t look down if you can’t stomach seeing an animal carcus.