Making Memories

We have a tradition. Every fall we go to a little town called Willcox. It's about an hour away and they have a pumpkin patch and an apple orchard. Can we go to a pumpkin patch (more like a stand in our town) and choose pumpkins? Sure. Can we buy apples at the store? Regularly. But this is a tradition for us and it's one of the things we look forward to doing every October.

Gabe and his pumpkin.

I was so excited to go this weekend. We usually will eat a really early breakfast at IHOP (Yay for blueberry pancakes!), then we head off to the pumpkin patch first where they have the best pumpkins - small, big, freakishly big, green, sage colored, orange, and white pumpkins. They also have produce you can pick or buy there and a huge field of sunflowers. Oh, and I forgot, a corn maze that's really frustrating, but Manny can navigate the hardest trail in 15 minutes flat. Me, not so much.

Manny and Gabe after they conquered the corn maze.

Lost in the pumpkin patch. Apparently I didn't get the memo that you are supposed to wear orange to the pumpkin patch because everyone else there did. But I look like I'm trying to steel a pumpkin under my shirt so that counts, right?

Then we head off to Apple Annie's Orchard where we "pick apples." I quote that because the past two years we have been too tired by that time to actually pick the apples. So we just buy 'em. The best part about the orchard is that they have a country store where they sell fresh apple pies, apple jellies, apple this and apple that. But they also sell my favorite...homemade apple crumb pie ice cream. Seriously, they slow churn it right there with an old fashioned ice cream maker. It takes 45 minutes for a batch of pumpkin or apple pie ice cream but last year they finally got with the program and started deep freezing pints of ice cream to go. Genius.

My whole point in describing this is that I was set out and determined to make new memories. We took Christian last year for his first time. And I almost felt compelled to go again in spite of what has happened. This is who Christian is now and this is who we are. Things have changed but things are still the same, too. We are the same people who like a good party, watch our TV shows, and love a good fall trip to Willcox. Things are different, but certainly not dead. This family is alive and I guess what I'm trying to say is that we are creating new memories almost to say - TAKE THAT! to our life's recent circumstances. We won't be beaten...Christian won't be beaten. This is our family. He's our baby who we're going to love and squeeze and expose to whatever we would have exposed him to before (except for germies and H1N1).

It was a good trip. I was excited to take my boys. It was perfect weather - not hot, not cold - and a little cloudy. It really couldn't have been a more perfect day.

So just for comparison's sake...

Last year, Christian was 3 months old and just way too impressed with his pumpkin.

This year, Christian is 14 months, and the pumpkin still isn't that impressive.

Me with the boys last year.

Me with the boys this year.

Christian and I last year. Christian was mad he had to take more pictures.

This year, again, pissed he has to take a picture with Mom.

So as you can see...things are different. But a lot of things are still the same!

And just because I promised...angry face picture after church today.