Pumpkin Pickin

Picking a pumpkin is no easy task! Growing up in my house, the rule was, "If you can carry it, you can have it." When the kids were told this, Matt took off for the monster pumpkins. He wasn't out there just to get a pumpkin, he was out to prove his manhood! Sadly, the first set of pumpkins that he embarked upon could not even be remotely budged by him. He sure was huffin and puffin, giving it all he had, though! He then moved one step down. These pumpkins were still a stretch for him. He would bend over, get it an inch off the ground and drop it with a heave. He even tried to roll it up his legs like the strong men do in their competitions. I said, "Let me clarify the rule, 'If you can carry it and it makes it to the car IN ONE PIECE, then you can have it." Finally, he found one that was just his size...barely! He carried it a little way, stopped, put it down and took a break. Picked it up, go another two feet, stop for a break. Pick it up, go another foot and a half, break time again. I'm happy to report that he and his pumpkin made it to the car safely.
For Mary, picking her pumpkin involved much, much more! -like ridiculously more!!!!!  It had to be just the right shade of orange, it had to be perfectly round, and the stem not too long but not too short, it had to be smooth, no bumps, and absolutely NO dirt on it whatsoever. (considering the birthplace of a pumpkin, that one by far was our biggest challenge!) She walked around, touched, and picked up just about every single pumpkin! She critiqued them all. Needless to say, she was the last one to pick out hers. Mom and I said, "How about this one, Mary?" "Oh, I love this one." "Hey Mare, if I was going to get a pumpkin, I would definitely go for this one!" "This is IT, Mary! I found THE PERFECT ONE!" Finally, we resorted to, "Time to go home, Mare." With that said, she bent over, picked up the pumpkin that she was closest to and went on her way. (I don't know why I didn't think of that WAY sooner!)
Mikey didn't care about his manhood. Nor did he care about shape, color, stems, bumps, or dirt. He picked his out and was ready to go get an ice cream.


Emma followed Matt over to the monster pumpkins. Only Emma would challenge her big brother to a strength test. We told her how strong she was and whisked her away to "baby pumpkin land" where she found one just her size.

And last but not least, our Annie...first of all, I don't know why she looks like Casper the friendly ghost in this picture but it was the only one I took of her and her pumpkin. When she entered the sea of pumpkins, she squealed, "BALL!!!!, BALL!" She found herself the tiniest pumpkin and was just delighted with it. She would only hang onto her pumpkin for a few seconds because she was absolutely convinced it was a ball. She threw it, we would give it back to her, and say, "No Annie. This is a pump-kin, that's puuuhmp-kin." She'd throw it again. As we were standing just outside the tent, Annie's pumpkin went rolling by with her running after it yelling, "BALL!! BALL!!" I've given up. This afternoon, she threw it down the driveway and screamed, "BALL!" Let's just hope we've got her convinced before she plays her first soccer game.