"You tried to win tickets???"

Shawn called me from work a couple weeks ago and said "Guess what? I just won 4 tickets to Vala's Pumpkin Patch on the radio! I was caller number 5!" Now Shawn is a good sport and usually goes along with any crazy schemes we may have of taking all the kids somewhere, but there is usually a little mumbling and grumbling. Plus the patch he won tickets to is about an hour and a half drive each way from our home. Needless to say, I was a little surprised that he would try to win tickets to this place and promote an out of town trip with the kids. So I said "You actually tried to win tickets to a pumpkin patch?" And he said "Sure, why not?"
Now I did a double take and wondered if this was the same husband talking that I have been married to for 17 years. I said "Okay! That's great! When should we go? How about next Saturday?" He says "Well, Nebraska plays football on TV that day and such and such game is on at 3:00 and then I wanna watch so and so play at 7:00 and..." No more doubts...this was definitely Shawn I was talking to!

So I looked at our calendar and discovered the kids had no school on October 19. A teacher work day or something. Shawn got the day off from work and the plans were set! We had a great time! The weather was gorgeous...we really lucked out because it has been cold, windy and rainy here for quite a few days. Monday it was 75 degrees, sunny and the perfect day to spend outside. John had to stay behind because he still had football practice in the afternoon. I could tell he was deeply saddened to have to stay home...a quiet house, computer and Xbox all to himself, his car in the driveway and $20 in his pocket "in case he needed anything". Of course he really wanted to go with us (yeah - right!).

We had a fantastic day filled with pig races, dragon shows and jumping pillows. Did I mention the Barnyard Animal Band and giant rocking chair? Yes, there were pumpkins too. Also, before you ask, Emma is wearing a blue/greenish tye-died type shirt and pink and grey striped pants. Why? It wasn't a battle I was gonna win. She picked out her outfit the day before we went and was bound and determined to wear it to the pumpkin patch. She wanted to be pretty for our trip she said. How can you resist that? Plus I wore an orange Happy Halloween shirt that lights up when I move. So technically she wasn't out of place. You gotta dig it.

(Ummmm...yeah - somehow I left these two pics out of the slide show)
Us at the beginning...How tall this fall?

Tommie and the girls ended the day with giant lollipops!