We harvested a lot of yellow squash, zucchini, and tomatoes from our garden. In spite of chronic neglect, our garden also produced acorn squash, bunches of Romaine lettuce, and four large heads of broccoli this year. Our green beans, cantaloupe, and watermelon never made an appearance; but we again had rogue, giant sunflowers sprouting up near our grapevines. Speaking of towering plant life: Did you know that the broccoli plant, if left unattended after the head is harvested, will grow into a 6-foot-tall bush? Not that I'm admitting to ever having had 4 broccoli bushes on our property or anything . . .One afternoon Ally, Cora, and I decided to visit the pumpkin patch with our friends. We drove out to Pasco, only to find that the patch wasn't open on weekdays. We reverted to Plan B (a trip to the public library), which turned into an unplanned opportunity to tour the local fire station with a homeschooling group.
When we arrived at the fire station at the appointed time, all the doors were locked and no one was there the meet us. We all walked up the hill and played running games for half an hour while the angry parent who had coordinated the trip made multiple phone calls and a lot of grumbling noises. After awhile, an off-duty fireman showed up, and it was discovered that the missing firemen were all out fighting fires at two separate locations. Imagine that, they were doing their jobs! (Can you tell I was annoyed with the angry parent? I was grateful she and her group let us tag along, but very annoyed with her attitude and assumptions of the firemen's disregard of her time.)
When a few of the firemen returned from their call, they gave us a short tour of the station and showed us the firefighting equipment on their smaller truck. Ally got to see how quickly a firefighter can get dressed into all his gear, and she now knows how strange a fireman looks and sounds while wearing an oxygen mask. After we left the garage, they turned the siren on, and it was VERY loud.
A few days later, on a Saturday, the girls and I took Daddy out to Pasco to visit the open pumpkin patch. Besides your typical patch full of pumpkins and a giant corn maze, they also had a hay bail maze, a bounce house, a blow-up obstacle course, a giant slide, potato guns (that we didn't use) and big and little hay pyramids. On our way out, Ally decided to attempt the giant slide with me; she quickly regretted that decision and cried/screamed all the way down. (I don't have a good picture of that.)
Before beginning our search for our own Great Pumpkin, Ally and I whizzed around the patch on an animal train. Our creature of choice was a spotted cow with a sheep's head, mainly because it was up front. Ally's friends were more adventurous and sat in the back, with hopes of greater whiplash.
The train moved a lot slower than in years past, which Ally was quite grateful for. We had a fun ride and saw lots of potentially "perfect" pumpkins. 
After our trip in the mutant cow, we all boarded a flatbed trailer and returned to the patch. Daddy found his great pumpkin, Ally found her white pumpkin, and I found a bunch of cool-looking gourds. And Cora, as always, had fun because she was being carried everywhere.
We took our pumpkins home, and a week or two later they were decorated for Halloween. Which I've already blogged a few posts back. Yeah! Now to tackle November.
