Pumpkin patch

Ian headed back to work last Thursday. Taylor had left to return to KY on Monday and Zanne wasn't arriving until Friday. What that meant was I had all three kids to myself for the day on Thursday. To top things off, it was Lucy's first field trip, ever. And it was to the pumpkin patch.
We loaded the crew up in their orange gear. Graham was clueless. Harper was first hearing of "pumpkins" that morning and therefore had no idea what we were talking about and Lucy was just super excited.
Graham rode in his "bag" and Harper ran amuck, well aware of the fact that I couldn't really keep up with her. Lucy ran around with school friends, mostly boys (Ryan and Tyler). At one point during lunch, Ryan's dad came over and asked Ryan "where's pretty little Lucy", completely unaware that I was Lucy's mom and hearing the conversation. Ryan pointed to Lucy who was sitting next to him, but with space between them for another kid or two. Ryan's dad said, "why don't you ask her to sit next to you?" Ryan then got up and walked over to Lucy and asked if she wanted to sit next to him. Lucy, in her best 13- year- old- valley- girl voice said, "Ryan, I AM sitting right next to you!" Then she took a big bite of her apple and went back to talking to a girl friend. That ended that conversation.
The pumpkin patch was less farm and more amusement park for preschoolers. Their was a giant pile of sand to dig for treasures, a spooky hayride which both girls LOVED, giant slides, animals, tunnels, rides, etc. In the end, you walked by some pumpkins and chose one pre-picked pumpkin to take home. Harper chose the smallest one she could find, and promptly dropped it several times so that it was already rotting by the time we got home. Lucy tried to find the biggest in the pile and Graham, well, he just sported a pumpkin on his shirt.
All in all, a successful first day alone, a successful first field trip and a great fall day. Maybe juggling three kids isn't so hard. Remind me of that the first rainy day we are stuck inside with a crying baby, a sick toddler and a bored preschooler.