Lombardi Ranch

Yesterday the kids were out of school a little early so we decided to head to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins.

And to make it feel like it really is fall!

All of the "Pumpkin Patches" around our house are basically parking lots with some hay thrown on the ground and bales stacked here and there with pumpkins on the hay. They throw a fence around it, a tent on top and then put a few bounce houses inside to lure the children.

They can hear the children in the cars as they pass, "CAN WE GO IN THAT JUMPY?"

No, no, no.... the place is inauthentic. It is not a real pumpkin patch.

Not like Lombardi Ranch, which is family owned and perhaps not the best pumpkin patch ever, but pretty great as it compares to the parking hay patches.

I was particularly impressed by the stems or tops of their pumpkins.

You can never underestimate the value of a good pumpkin stem.

One year, I put my carefully picked pumpkins in the back of my suburban and when I got home I discovered to my dismay that they had rolled around all the way home and their tops had broken off.

I was devastated.

Lombardi Ranch also has great varieties of squash.

I really like squash for some reason.

Not the sport.
No, I do not play squash on the weekends.

I do like to bake them though.

Aren't they all cool and funky looking.

They look a the pumpkins and think..

yah... everyone may want you...

but we are unique and colorful and there are rows and rows of you all over the place in

parking hay patches!

I was quite partial to this particular pumpkin.

Couldn't you just eat him up?

I tried, but Hottie Husband snapped a picture of me so I had to stop.

The kids loved exploring the hay pyramids

Jackie Boy enjoyed the jowels of a giant Jack O Lantern

then Toots escaped from jail and decided to do a little jig...

His escape vehicle was this cool old fire truck.

They risked life and limb and let Little Bear drive.

Then I tried to look all dreamy to HH by hanging from said fire truck in my cool new aviator sunglasses. Shouldn't there be some music playing?

If I knew how to Photoshop that German arm, believe me it would be done.

HH loves my for those arms though. They help him move large pieces of furniture, wood, etc. I am a hearty wife!

I had to put this one in because Mister Luke is actually looking at the camera and smiling.

This is after years of photography therapy for both of us.

A momentous occasion.

Mom look, he's wearing my Halloween costume.

Then we visited the animals and I became fascinated by this ostrich.

She looks a little irritated with me.

Yes, most assuredly irritated.

I am now glad she is behind the fence.

I have a history with bad bird behavior. A flock of geese once attacked me.. in Hawaii... and I have never been the same.

HH has his own issues with birds disliking him. He used to have a pet parrot named Petey who would attack his head whenever it was let out of the cage.

We left before she could rip through the fence and eat us both.

Then we saw these pigs loving up on each other.

Again, some music is in order.

We finally picked out our pumpkins and headed to the exit.

The boys begged for corn. Yes, begged!!

It was a really hard decision considering it is a vegetable and my children were begging for it and it was only 70 cents per ear.

They shucked it

and ate it raw and then asked why I normally cook it.

I don't know. Maybe you can get some type of disease if you eat it raw. We'll soon find out.

Happy Fall Mamasistas

and thanks for enduring the massive amount of pictures I just posted.