Embrace the Camera: Pumpkin Patch and Hayride

Goodness!!!  I meant to post this LAST Thursday.  Talk about a crazy life I lead.  ;-)

On the 21st, we met up with my parents at Kensington MetroPark.  We celebrated both Jonathan's and Jackson's birthdays with a picnic and a visit to their Farm Center.  Just as a back-story to all of these pictures, let me fill you in on the Friday evening before that.  Scott teaches in a very rural area about an hour east of where we live.  His staff was having a Soup/Chili Cook-off and he wanted to go, so he worked late and I loaded up the kids and met him at the high school.  Mind you this is not a new trip for the boys, although it is infrequent.  

Through the whole trip all four boys kept exclaiming, "Wow!  Look, horses!" or "Holy cow!  That's a lot of fields.  How long does it take for them to plant all of those?"  There were a lot of "What's that?"  and "Do people actually live out here?"  I chuckled and answered the questions.

When we got to the school, they were also having a tailgate/carnival for the kids.  The next question was "Does everyone drive trucks?"  Later, I heard Jordan explaining to some of the local kids that he and his brothers really don't know much about these kind of things; they live in Bay City and go to school in downtown Saginaw.

The absolute best part was as we were leaving, seeing the animals.  They were able to pet a calf, and Jon kept trying to pet the behind.  We told him it would be better to pet the head and he just looked at us confused until the owner told him, "This is the head, Honey."  Then, we walked over to a pen and Jordan looks in and asks, "What is it?"  I tell him, "A pig," and Jon asks, "What's it doing?"  I respond, "Sleeping."  And quickly usher my dear city boys through the gate.

That said, here is the farm visit two days later.  There were fewer questions, but everything was a bit more clearly labeled.  lol

We got to see more sleeping pigs.

Jackson posing for the camera.

I'm not sure what Josh was doing, but this is the only picture I have of him from the front.

Jon meets a donkey, and manages to pet the correct end this time.

More petting the donkey.

Jackson's turn, which is pretty amazing because he's usually afraid of most animals.

Even brave enough to pet it without big brother near by

Now this is more his type of animal.

Yes, Jackson, you are still the big brother, even if Jon is taller.

Typical Jackson.  Gotta pick the weirdest pumpkin out there.  And believe me he truly looked!

The hayride back to the main farm area.

Hayride

Always the conscientious one, Jordan insists on putting the chain across the opening while the tractor is moving.

We finally convince him that putting the chain up to keep everyone safe get completely negated if he falls out in the process.

The picture that Scott agreed that I could post.  The other one was funnier...

My parents.  You can't see it here, but my dad grew his hair out rocker-style and is letting his beard grow long.  My mom on the other hand cut her hair super short so she could wear her motorcycle helmet without messing up her hair.  Yes, she retired and bought herself a motorcycle!

And, finally the only picture of me, but hey it's one more than I had before!

What is Embrace the Camera?

I've been following Emily over at The Anderson Crew for a couple of years now and thoroughly enjoy her Embrace the Camera posts.  I love her reasoning, she says it way better than I can here.  So I figured now that I'm doing this blog, I'd join in the fun.  After all, she's right, I have almost no pictures of myself!