Back to the Patch & a Visit from Aunt Kellyn

This past week my sister was visiting Houston.  She was here for work, but we soaked up all of her extra time.  Last year when she came to Houston for work we went to the pumpkin patch, so we thought it only appropriate that she accompany us again this year. 

Last year we went to a patch that was about an hour away, then took about 45 minutes to park, then there was another 30 minute line for tickets, 10 bazillion people trying to get to all of the rides and games, a line for the hayride to a pumpkin patch that you just got to pick a pumpkin that was shipped in from somewhere else and dumped into a field…….quite disappointing to this east-coaster that was used to actually picking a pumpkin off of a vine and could do without the amusement park activities and lines.  This year I called around Houston to about 15 patches, and it seems that no one does the “pick off the vine” concept for pumpkins; apparently it’s too hot to grow pumpkins here so they are grown somewhere else and then shipped into southern Texas.  To me, there was no point waiting in all of those lines for something I could really get at the grocery store without a line for a quarter of the price.  Instead this year, we went to a local Methodist church where the Mr. and I got pumpkins pre-kids (and as a child, for years my sister and I sold pumpkins for mission work at a Methodist church).  It made perfect sense to me to go back to the tried and true, and this year was so much more enjoyable for us and Dutch.  Despite the rain, it was a much more relaxing and enjoyable experience and it was such a joy to watch Dutch discover all of the pumpkins.  I am so excited about next year and seeing him teach Teeny Peep all about pumpkins :-)

He was very excited to run into the pumpkin patch!

And of course I can’t  forget a comparison picture! 

This is last year vs. this year with “Aunt Nana”

I love to see the growth, and I just love to see these two together!

“Aunt Nana” also brought such a fun craft with her from Virginia.  To teach Dutch about fall (since we don’t really have one in Houston), she brought some real fallen leaves with her from the east coast.  Together with Dutch they read a book about leaves changing, crumbled the leaves, and pasted them onto fall shapes.  Dutch and “Aunt Nana” blew bubbles and went on walks.  She even gave him his first cake pop (I’m pretty sure he is a really big fan lol). 

We don’t get to see family often, so when we do we definitely cherish these special moments. 

She is such a great and fun aunt!  We are going to miss her big time!