Field Trip to Papa's Pumpkin Patch

Emma's class left first thing this morning on their field trip to Papa's Pumpkin Patch. Other than it being a little damp from yesterday's rain, the weather was perfect (in my opinion)! I volunteered to help chaperone and rode the bus with the kids. I thought we might be in for an adventure when the bus driver asked me, "It's on River Drive right?" I replied, "Yes, it's on River ROAD!" The driver then says, "I've never been there before so I'm not sure exactly where it is!" I assured him that there were signs telling him where to turn. It's typically not a good thing when the bus driver is asking the parents where they are going! LOL! He was hesitant at a few corners, but once he started seeing the signs, I think he figured out where we were going.

After boarding the bus, I was thinking it might have been more pleasant to drive myself. Boy was it LOUD!

Emma was quite excited since this was her first bus ride ever!


There was a parent in the way of my picture taking when we boarded to head out to the Pumpkin Patch, so I'm pretending this "after" picture is really "before". :-) You'd never know if the kids weren't holding grocery sacks containing their pumpkins!



You can just see the excitement on her face!

The class boards the train for a little tour around the patch.

While Emma was enjoying her climb in the tree, I couldn't resist this photo op!

Emma and Mom at Papa's Pumpkin Patch field trip - October 2008

Emma wanted to bring this pumpkin home. They said it weighed in around 600 pounds!!

Emma and her friends, Emily and Blaike posing with a bunch of scarecrows!

We arrived back at school just in time for lunch!

The kids had a great time. I was in charge of keeping track of just 2 girls, so I had it pretty easy. I did have a hard time keeping the two of them together, but since the other girl's Dad was also there, I didn't have to worry too much about her. Each of the kids got to bring home a pumpkin and they each also got a Pumpkin cookie. I'm sure they'll be enjoying those this afternoon at snack time!

They have so many new things out at the patch this year. There seems to be new additions each year, and last year they actually turned Papa's Pumpkin Patch into Papa's Polar Patch and opened it up during the winter and flooded an area for ice skating. We'll definitely have to visit that this winter. What a smart idea! I think all of the money they take in at the Pumkpin Patch (and probably the Polar Patch as well) is given to local charities. The people that put it all together are wonderful and very generous. I may have to look into volunteering out there sometime!