Sunday Neil, Margie Grace and I ventured out to Jack-O-Lantern Lane, a pumpkin farm outside of LaFayette, Ala., to enjoy the beautiful fall weather and pick out the perfect pumkin to carve. This is the second year we have visited the farm and for the bargain price of $6 each, we got to ride on a tractor-drawn wagon out to the patch in search of the great pumpkin of 2008. Here's a tip: if you are looking for the perfect pumpkin any size bigger than a basketball, do not wait until the week before Halloween. It is akin to pulling up to the tree farm on Christmas Eve -- you're left with slim pickens at best. For a week before the big day, however, the selection was ok. Although the remaining gourds were a little on the smallish side, it actually worked out well for Margie Grace as she could pick up most of the pumpkins and handle them herself (which she is all about these days! "Margie do it."). The three of us wandered through the patch, each searching for the best pumpkin of the bunch. After scouring the place we settled on three pretty good ones . . . a momma pumpkin, a daddy pumpkin and a little baby pumpkin. We also took time to look around the working farm, which the owners have open for the public. Margie Grace got to see a donkey, goats, rabbits, chickens and horses. She was more aware and unsure of the animals this year as opposed to last year but I really think she enjoyed seeing live animals and being able to relate them to the ones we read about in her books. Here are some pictures from our visit.
