Picking Out A Pumpkin...

It's sad, really. I opened Blogger over a week ago and started a blog post about this and then never finished it. So, here I am to try again...

We took Samuel to the closest pumpkin patch to town on the 14th and had an absolute blast! I can't tell you how much joy it brings me (and James) to be able to do little things like this with the Sam-man. To be able to do things as a family, to create memories with the handsome little man...it's priceless. Absolutely priceless.

While there, we did a hayride, checked out the animals (and Samuel tried feeding them), picked pumpkins, and according to Sam, had the time of our lives at the slide! I wish I could've gotten a better recording of the nonstop laughter coming from that boy as he would go down the slide. It's music to my ears -- best sound EVER. It was such a memorable day and with James now in the field for 5 weeks (minus one weekend in between), I'm glad we were able to squeeze it in before the season was over.

After taking Samuel to Georgia's version of a pumpkin patch last year -- where pumpkins are just on pallets shipped in from who knows where -- it was nice to go back to a place where you pick one out of the field! While it will never compare to places like Lattin's Cider Mill in Olympia, WA, it was close enough considering we're in the desert! I have fond memories of going to Lattin's while pregnant with Olivia...okay...I suppose they're really more like bittersweet memories, but still...Either way, props to New Mexico for providing a great pumpkin patch!

After paying the admission fees, we faced this. It made me slightly laugh. Welcome to the desert, right? Oh, how I miss leaves, grass, etc.

We, of course, decided to check out the slide first. Can you tell how much fun it was for Sam?! He kept running back to the tires to climb back up to do it over and over and over again. Sweet boy...

And for a boy that has never seen farm animals, this was pretty amazing...

The perfect opportunity to take a few pics of the boy...

 Run, Sam, Run!

Come on, Dad! Let's go back to the slide!

It's times like this when I realize he's not my baby anymore. No. He's my toddler. My little boy...who pretends to be an airplane when given the chance...

The story of Sam's life. Always on the move...

A boy of many facial expressions...

Oh, Samuel. You and those crazy, long eyelashes...

It's hard to grab a picture where he's sitting still. As you can tell, he was trying to wiggle out of my arms while taking this picture...

And...he's off!

Always so happy...

Love him... 

Since we're both bad about asking others to take a picture for us, here's the typical self-portrait...

So many to choose from! Where do I start?!

Come on, Mom. I'll show you the one I want...

Never mind. I just want to run!

This is awesome!

Some of those weeds weren't very friendly to the touch, yet Samuel was tackling them..

This is THE one!

So proud!

Let's get this one, too, dad...

While waiting for the hayride back to the main area, Samuel kept running away. This was James' method of bringing him back, ha.

I love those two so much...

While we're waiting for the hayride, let's get back to being an airplane! That's way more entertaining than just standing there waiting...

Before we left, we couldn't resist taking Samuel back to his favorite thing...

Samuel with the pumpkins we decided to take home -- One for Sam and one for our 3 angels...

If we're here in El Paso next year -- and I'm sure we will be -- we'll definitely be taking Sam back to this place again! It was most definitely an afternoon full of absolute joy!