Yesterday my youngest child and I bundled up and headed out for an adventure - a visit to the Pumpkin Patch with her preschool class. Now this wasn’t my first visit to the Pumpkin Patch with a preschool class - it was my 7th and final visit. Bittersweet? Maybe.

We met with her class and were introduced to their guide for the day. Over the years we’ve had some great guides and some not so great guides, but this year our guide was fine. She was very patient with this group of cold, but enthusiastic four year olds. She walked us down to the Fun Barn for our lesson on bees. Each year the displays get more sophisticated, but the kids still love looking at that beehive and learning about plant pollination. The rope swings in the hay barn are great too. This year I was very willing to stay in the hay barn as long as they would let us, because at least we were sheltered from the wind.

Done with the hay barn, we were off to see the animals in the petting zoo area. My daughter could have fed the goats all day. The little white ones were very fond of “juicy green leaves” according to my daughter, not the dried out ones. She scoured the area for juicy leaves and had a ball feeding them to the goats. I will say, it was pretty cute!

We had to stop at one of the displays for a group picture and then it was off to the play area for a while. Finally the tractor came for the highlight activity - the hay ride to the pumpkin patch. We piled on to the hay trailer and for the first time I can remember, the kids didn’t really want to sit with the Mommies. No problem here. We found the field of pumpkins and piled off the tractor. We stepped over vines, inspected many pumpkins and finally found “the one”. Back on the hay ride and we were done.

All three of my kids have attended this same preschool and we have gone to the same pumpkin patch all these years. The teachers and I compared notes and shared memories of the different years. I remember when my daughter took her first trip there - in a stroller, accompanying her older sister’s class on the field trip. We talked about the guides, the weather and how this place has evolved. It was sad in a way, but in another sense it was a vital part of the countdown to Kindergarten for my little one.

UPDATE: This blog entry is part of the Halloween blog carnival at The Holiday Blogger. Check out the other entries!