A potpourri of pictures from the "Pumpkinliner" train day.
Getting the ticket punched on the train in the morning
Grant and Addie on the carousel
Grant on the way home- you think he was pooped?
Well, not too pooped to watch the scenery go by with Addie. They enjoyed it so much!
Grant's carousel chicken that was broken
The hay ride around the next door christmas-tree farm
(but the kids still had fun)
And the $4 hotdogs while we grooved to "The Copa Cabana"
The Kropfs were kind enough to share their pictures with us of the infamous train day.
Here's Addie in front of one of the passenger cars.
We chose to sit on an open-air car.
Here's a classy pic for you all to enjoy.
I love this girl.
Grant and Chris Kropf in the foregraound as we travel along.
So a week ago or more, I hinted that we would be going to another place to get a "Mommy" pumpkin to go with the "Daddy" and "Daughter" pumpkins. My sister-in-law Jess has pointed out that I've left you hangin' about getting the mommy pumpkin, and I have, because relating the story of going to get the mommy pumpkin is going to take a long time. SO settle down for a good read, people, because here goes:
Several weeks ago we found out that in the nearby town of Fillmore, where they have antique trains, there is a "Pumpkinliner" train that will take you out to an exclusive pumpkin patch and back on a real, live, delight-a-toddler train ride. It sounded so great, so we bought tickets, and so did the Kropfs. Then, when Greg's grandfather passed away, we realized Greg would miss out on the train day, but what can ya do? The train ride was scheduled for Saturday, and Greg was due home late that night, so by Saturday morning I was feeling pretty tired (especially because Addie couldn't go to sleep the night before because she missed Daddy too much and was in tears). I guess the tiredness was why I forgot my cell phone at home, but when I realized that, I just figured I'd be with the Kropfs all morning and it would be fine.
Our plan was to ride the 10:00am train, get back, grab some lunch, and get the kids home for a nap. So Addie and I arrived at the train depot excited, and rushed to get out of the car and find the Kropfs. We did, boarded the train, and enjoyed a marvelous 40 minute ride to the pumpkin patch.
And that's when things turned ugly.
When we got sight of the "Pumpkin Patch" (and I use that term loosely), we were a bit disappointed. It was a small area next to the highway, with a few pumpkins, a dilapidated old carousel, some bounce houses, and connected to a little roadside nursery that sold ceramic pots. Not what we had in mind. Also, it was very crowded when the hundreds of people from the train piled off. We tried to find an un-crowded spot and decide what to do.
We quickly came to the conclusion we didn't want to stay long and checked out the train schedule to see when we could leave. And this is when it sank in that there was one train, going back and forth on one set of tracks, and if the ride is 40 minutes each way, there weren't a lot of options for trains back to the train depot. Therefore, it seemed we could catch the train back which left almost immediately, or we would be stuck for two hours. We were also in line for lunch, because our little kiddos were getting hungry. Brooke went to go check with the train, to make sure we had figured this all out correctly. It didn't seem like it could be right. She came quickly around the corner telling us "the train is leaving NOW!" and we ducked out of line and took about 5 steps toward the train when we saw, in disbelief, that it was chugging away down the tracks. A great gray cloud of unhappiness settled over we three as we watched our hope of escape leaving.
Having nothing else to do, we spent the next few hours eating $4 hot dogs while loud, hideous, music blared over our heads. It was a classy mix of 60's country, Barry Manilow, and "Thriller." We began to break into silly, giddy laughter, which is common when one is slowly losing their sanity. We laughed harder when the kids rode the carousel, and Grant's giant chicken was broken. We endured the "hay ride" around the neighboring Christmas Tree farm. I changed a diaper in a porta-potty. Finally, the train returned, we happily boarded, and headed home. It was way past nap time, but our kids had managed to hold it together and were doing a great job. I fantasized of getting home to an air-conditioned house and letting Addie watch movies all afternoon, or what was left of it.
It was just after we got off the train and said "see you at home!" to the Kropfs that I realized I didn't remember putting my car keys in the bag. A frantic search confirmed my worst thoughts- they were in my purse, which I'd left in the car. You know how you feel reading this right now? I felt that way, times ten. (And remember? I had no cell phone)
Thankfully, I caught the Kropfs before they left, and after a while of figuring out what we should do, Brooke and their cell phone stayed with me, while Chris took Grant home for a nap. No AAA, so I called a locksmith. They told me someone would be there in 30 minutes, so we sat down to wait. Thankfully, I was parked next to a big stretch of grass, near a public restroom and an ice cream shop. Can't get better than that.
It was an hour before I finally heard from the locksmith, and he informed me it would cost $185 dollars to let me into my car. My early ideas of breaking one of the car windows suddenly seemed a lot smarter. I said "Um, no thanks" and presumed upon my friends even further. Oh, have I mentioned that Brooke had a cold? And that they were having people over for Chris' birthday that night and she was supposed to be home making his birthday cake? Yeah, I felt like a big idiot.
So we called Chris and he managed to get the apartment managers to let him into my apartment, get my spare keys, and another set of neighbors, the Murrays, volunteered to drive them out to Fillmore for me. In the meantime, our good friends the Myers' had come out for a train ride themselves, in the afternoon, and had left for the pumpkin patch with warnings not to stay. So while Brooke and I waited for someone to drive the keys out to us, the Myers arrived back from the pumpkin patch and were surprised to fund us still there!
So there we were, sitting in the shade next to my car, Ben & Jen Myers, their kids, their visiting parents, Brooke, and Addie and I. Ben and his father-in-law gave a good effort at breaking into my car. No luck.
We ended up getting ice cream and sitting in the grass.
That was when we were visited by a neighborhood dog, wearing a giant plastic ring around his head (what are those things called?) because he has some sort of funk on his backside. His rumpus was all shaved and nasty and he tried to show affection to each of us, but the big plastic collar kept him from getting to anyone. Again, there was more hysterical laughter, as the day got stranger and longer. Addie finally konked out on my shoulder and got a 20 minute nap.
The Murrays arrived with the keys, and I happily took them to the car. It was then I realized that there should be two car keys on that ring, one for my car and one for Greg's, and I only saw one. Hoping it was the right key, I put it in the lock and then..... began to cry. I was the wrong key. I thought I had held it together pretty well up until then, but I was so tired and knowing that I had inconvenienced half my neighbors and now STILL couldn't get into my car was more than I could handle.
Thankfully, I had asked Chris, just in case, to grab every set of keys in the apartment and THANKFULLY, out of character, Greg had left his keys home while he was gone, and we had his set of keys which DID have a key to the car on it! We got in! It was 5 pm. We had arrived at 10am.
Here's Addie, who was ready to drive the car herself if she could just go home!
It was a rough day, but I had to thank the Lord for many blessings along the way. The Kropfs were with me, Addie did great, we had a safe and comfortable place to wait with bathrooms and even ice cream. I have great neighbors who go out of their way to help when needed. God took good care of us.
Needless to say, when I picked Greg up at the airport that night and he asked "how was the train today?" I laughed and told him it was a loooong story. The next morning when Addie saw Greg for the first time I asked her to tell Daddy what she did yesterday. She said, "We went to the park (the grass next to the car) and I had ice cream and there was a doggy!" Thnakfully, she came away unscathed by the incident.
Oh yeah, we didn't get a mommy pumpkin.
After a wild week, I am just now getting the rest of the pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch posted. While there, Addie was able to ride a pony for the first time. I wasn't sure how she would do, since she can be nervous about trying new things on her own, but she enthusiastically saddled up.
So here she is, on Dan, giving Daddy a big thumbs up.
See? Not nervous!
It's hard to tell, but she's holding the saddle with one hand and signing "horse" with the other. I think she was neighing too.
Ah, my little cowgirl.
Look at that Turkey! Yummy!
Here's Addie and I listening to the live band playing. I was explaining the different guitars to her.
Check out the sucking on the lip. I love that.
When the weekend trip to Phoenix went out the window, Greg and I commented that we looked forward to finding out why God kept us home. We got our answer when Greg's mom called Monday morning to tell us that Greg's Pappy (that's his dad's dad) passed away that morning.
Pappy was 100 years old and passed away quickly, with little pain, and in his own home with his family. We believe he is in heaven now and are so grateful his passing happened the way it did.
At first we thought Greg wouldn't be able to go to Pennsylvania for the funeral, but after a busy day of phone calls and internet searching, it was arranged for Greg and all three of his brothers to head to PA for the service. This may not sound like much to you, but Greg and his parents and brothers are spread out all over the US. It is rare to have the chance to get together. The last time Greg and his brothers were all able to be in Pennsylvania together was 1999! The wives will all be staying home with kiddos, leaving the brothers a RARE chance to be together, just men. I know a funeral isn't a fun event, but we hope that this time with the family will be a special memory for all the boys.
So now we know why God kept us home for the weekend. It gave Greg a lot of rest, which he'll need heading into his travel this weekend. And instead of seeing just one brother last weekend, now he'll see all three this weekend!
Pray for Greg and his family if you think of it, please. In addition to saying goodbye to Pappy, there's going to be a lot of traveling and not a lot of sleep, and that's a tricky combination. Thanks!
So we had an interesting weekend...
We were supposed to go to Phoenix and visit Greg family on Labor Day weekend, but for a variety of reasons, we postponed the trip. We attempted to make up for it and go this weekend, but things didn't exactly go as planned.
All day Thursday I waited to hear if Greg could find someone to work his property for the weekend and release him from duty, and the verdict changed several times throughout the day. So I started packing, then I stopped, then I started again. Finally, all looked good and Friday afternoon we packed up the car and headed out!
About 20 minutes into our journey we hit the traffic. It was unexpected, and slow, but we chugged along. After two hours in this traffic, Greg realized the temperature guage on the dashboard was signaling trouble. We pulled off, he checked the engine, and couldn't see any explanation. So we tried to go a little further, and that little arrow kept saying "TOO HOT"! So we pulled off, again, talked it over, and decided to play it safe and head back home. Addie broke down crying with disappointment at not getting to see Meemaw, and we were all bummed. But, there's no way we want to break down at midnight in the middle of the desert. So we blasted the heat the whole way home and after 5 1/2 hours, we were back where we started. What a bummer!
I was determined to have a good weekend anyway, and Greg was determined to not be bested by the car. He had a hunch he knew what was wrong, and tried making a small repair himself to see what it would do. The next day, after an hour and half of effort, GREG FIXED THE CAR! (Can you tell, I'm soooo proud of him?!) It cost a whopping $15.
Riding high on our victory, we took Addie to the pumpkin patch for some fun. We had a blast!
Here's our little cheeseball, smiling for the camera, like she was told to, but with extra spunk.
"I'm smiling, I'm smiling....
I'm smiling!"
Here are my loves with their Daddy pumpkin and Addie pumpkin. Next weekend we'll be picking out the Mommy pumpkin at a special pumpkin patch- stay tuned for that!
The highlight of our beach day- Greg finally got an opportunity to use a surf board and get some instruction, and he surfed! And I managed to capture a picture of it!
It's great to be a mommy at the beach! Your kids play in the sand and are so easily entertained! What do mommies do at the beach?
They love on their kiddos...
They warn, scold, and discipline...
They watch their husbands trying to surf...
And if they pose like this for my camera, they end up on my blog!
