A Great Day at the Farm

Saturday, October 13, 2007

On Saturday, we loaded up the boys (yes, that is plural now, kind of weird to say!) and headed North across the Causeway (a 24-mile long bridge across Lake Pontchartrain) and ended up in Folsom, Louisiana at Red Bluff Farm. Pumpkin Festival was the event for the day and it provided us as parents a chance to redeem ourselves. You see, last year, we headed out on the same excursion with Tyler, not realizing that the festival ended at 4:00 pm. We pulled into the parking lot at 3:50 in a slight drizzle as everyone was leaving, only to be told that the place was shutting down in ten minutes. We got out of the car and walked across the creek and asked if we could at least pick out a pumpkin while we were there and they said yes. Tyler had no idea that we would then head straight back to the car. So, needless to say, after we picked out our pumpkin and went to get in the car, one of the saddest moments ever occurred. I still could get a little teary thinking about it. He could see all the animals, tractors, etc, and we were just wisking him away into the car for another hour long car ride. He was SAD to say the least. So the only thing we could do was stop at Chick-fil-A in Mandeville on the way home and let him play in their playland since we felt SO bad. The day ended up being quite a downer.

So, this year, I was saying little prayers all morning that nothing would come in our way of getting to Pumpkin Festival this year. Honestly, I prayed that the car would run well, that the weather would cooperate, etc. We not only needed to get a second chance after last year, we also needed a day out to spend together as a family, since it seems like it has been forever since we have had one. So, it was a relief to pull into the parking lot on a beautiful day and be able to spend the day on the farm. Pumpkin Festival at Red Bluff Farm provided Tyler (and the rest of us, I suppose) the opportunity to go on a tractor ride, a hay ride, shell and shuck corn, bottle feed a calf, pet the baby chicks, watch a cow being milked and sheep getting a 'haircut', pick a perfect pumpkin, go fishing, and see all the farm animals. And we ate brisket and jambalaya for lunch and snacked on a freshly made bag of Kettle Korn throughout our day. We had a great time! It was a bit of a reality check for me to realize that I now have two kids and with one of them being an infant, that meant I was not able to spend my day snapping picture after picture like I normally would. So, I didn't get every little activity captured on camera, but that was okay, because we spent the day as a family and had a great time. And that's all that mattered! Here we are awaiting to depart on our tractor pulled hayride. When we finished, Tyler said: "that was a great trip on the tractor!"
A freshly shelled ear of corn
Picking the perfect pumpkin. Tyler was just sure he was strong enough to pick it up by himself...



And we were lucky enough to run into our good friends the Thompsons, which meant we had the rare chance of getting all four of us in a picture. This was our first picture with all of us since we added Sam to the bunch.
And as you can see the above picture from last year, I would say our mission was accomplished--we redeemed ourselves and had a much better experience this year (see below!)! Tyler definitely had a great time and is still talking about it constantly.