Bradley's Pumpkin Patch

This afternoon after church, we went west once more for our traditional trip to get pumpkins.  We went to a few different pumpkin patches and had a nice time picking out a few great-looking pumpkins for decorating at our house.  You can see the second place we went to above, one called "Bradley's Pumpkin Patch."  It was actually the more enjoyable visit today for a variety of reasons, one of which being that there weren't approximately 27 squillion people there.  There were people there, and it was nice to pick up some pumpkins, or sit on a front porch swing with a muscadine slushy.  That was pretty good, by the way.  

The first pumpkin place we went to was a traditional visit for us, Burt's Pumpkin Farm.  We made our way over to this place, which on weekends is absolutely packed.  But the sea of large, orange pumpkins is hard to resist, especially for a few photo opportunities.

We've been coming here for quite some time, and with Madison since 2008.  This blog has an entry about Burt's Pumpkin Farm in 2009.  That seems so long ago now, and here we are, just typing away day by day by day.  Anyway, we found our way here again, along with a squillion other people, and immediately set out to take pictures and find those perfect pumpkins.

Note the shirt that Madison has on.  It's a porg in a pumpkin, and it's pretty fun.  Madison was excited to head to the pumpkins and pick her own.  She didn't get one this big, but we did find some pretty nice ones on the other side of the collection.  She picked one, and Daddy picked one, and Mommy picked herself a pumpkin too.  We loaded them up in the wheelbarrow, and made our way to the front counter.  

Like I said, there were a squillion people there, and that sort of changes the atmosphere somewhat.  We loaded our pumpkins in the car, and did a great thing afterwards:  we stopped at another pumpkin patch.

Here's where we stopped at Bradley's Pumpkin Patch.  We actually bought four more pumpkins here, some "back-up pumpkins" for people wanting to carve at our upcoming party, even if they forgot their own pumpkin.  We got something to drink, and had such a relaxing time here at this place.  It helps that we know the folks that run this farm - they go to our church.  There's a great selection of pumpkins, although not as vast as the previous stop.  But it makes up for it with decor, hay rides, and things to drink on  hot day.  We really enjoyed our stop here.

So we went home after this, and it was a pretty uneventful journey.  Madison did some piano, and Daddy was sifting through the pumpkin pictures and dragging all the pumpkins in.  We got about eight pumpkins and a butternut squash, which will make yummy soup.  

Tonight we watched "Hotel Transylvania 2," which is in preparation for the third part that is released on Blu-ray this Tuesday.  We've pre-ordered it, and I have to say I liked part three better than part two.  Part one will always be the best, but we're loving this series, especially in October.  

We read some more tonight, starting our new Level Up devotional, and another chapter in the book, "The End."  Also, we read X-Men 17, which features a trip to Russia, amongst other plot details.  Kit Snicket is back in the next chapter of "The End," but the devotional is all new, and of course related to how we started our day out:

We started our new series, "Level Up" today, and it went extraordinarily well.  You can see the set in the picture above, along with Madison and some other kids there.  

They were talking about losing self-control, and the funny things we all do when we get mad.  Our message was about self-control, and it was a fun little segment with the kids up there.  

But here's the four arcade cabinets we picked up on Friday.  These always had a line to play - we had "Gorf," "Mrs. Pac-Man," "Tetris," and "Tempest," and there were all kinds of kids and adults wanting to play.  Madison was playing Tetris for a bit, but she was playing other games as well.  

It was a good day, and had a funny skit we all did about Video Game Players Anonymous.  Because playing video games can be pretty addictive!  The skit went really well, and got a lot of big laughs.  Madison thought it was great, and was surprised at one turn towards the end.  

One of the nicer moments of the morning was here, which is what church is all about, really.  Madison and a few of her friends got together and showed real love to a younger girl who was crying.  This girl was upset that someone told her that she's not her friend anymore, and sat there telling a volunteer that no one wanted to be her friend.  Madison and a few others corrected that right away.

It was a sweet moment today.  They all sat together, and showed this girl that she in fact had friends at KidPak.  We are so incredibly proud of Madison - and these other girls - for thinking of someone else first, and showing love in such a way.  Camille had something nice to say online some time later tonight:

That's what it's all about.  We're so very proud of you, Madison.  You didn't do that because people were looking or for any personal gain.  It was the right thing to do, and you were shining bright this morning.