A Perfect Southern Day

Today we set out for a truly Southern experience day. It was wonderful. The weather was beautiful - although, pushing 80 when out strolling as a 7 month preggo lady in the straight up sunshine was a *little* hot. I must only say "little" though because... well... I do live in the desert usually :) 

OK. We left around 9:30 and headed up to Hayden, AL to the Great Pumpkin Patch. I've never been to a pumpkin patch myself, but in the last 3 years, they've been all the rage on my friends' blogs and Facebook pages, and we are trying to get Lucy to experience EVERY SINGLE Fall experience this year...SO... we had to go! 

In the car on the way. She was SO excited! And it's so cute to hear her say "Punkin Patch!"

 We hit the petting zoo first.

I wouldn't call it a "petting zoo" really, since all the animals were hanging out in the middle of their cages and you couldn't reach most of them. (Probably traumatized by all the little kiddos reaching in on them every day...)

 She liked the little ponies best.

 Then we went to the inflatables section. We were surprised that she went up this big slide! But, she was following the little girl in the picture. She's all about "my friends" these days and isn't shy one bit. She'll run up to any little girls and immediately be their best pal.

 She LOVED the bouncy houses!

 She followed the girl up this even bigger slide...but the little girl slid right down. Lucy sat down at the top...

 Then turned right back around to come down the ladder (which to us seemed more intense to come DOWN then to just slide!). 

 Afterwards, it was Funnel Cake Time!

 And then the train! (Which I was told was really bumpy and better if I didn't ride)

 And then Pony Rides!

 Finally, we got on the wagon that rode us out to the actual pumpkin patch. 

 The same little girl and her family, including 2 sisters, was on our wagon, so Lucy wanted to follow them around and be right with them the whole time.

And of course, our desert child found some dirt and said, "Look, Mommy! I found sand!" She loves playing in the sand!

 The money shot for the day!

 Proof that we were there, too!

 After picking our pumpkin, we headed over to the Hay Pyramid. It's not so much a pyramid anymore as it is a large mound of hay. Either way, Lucy and all these little girlies had a great time making mountains and nests. 

 Reminded me of when me and my cousin Josh used to make hay forts in Paw Paw Mancil's barn...

 On the wagon ride back to the main area. See our cute pumpkin?

 BOTH of my cute pumpkins!

 Precious.

 We had a successful "keep the pants dry" day, so she got a treat of 2 sheets of stickers and 2 suckers. Yay, Lucy!

 And finally we got a picture of all 3 of us (even though Lucy isn't participating...)

 It was such a fun dat at The Great Pumpkin Patch! 

I really like that the entrance is FREE and then you just pay for things as you go. We ended up spending less than if we'd gone to one of the bigger ones where you pay a flat fee to get in. Yay!

After our "Punkin Patch" experience, we headed to Cracker Barrel for some amazing lunch. I just love Cracker Barrel. Man. I had the most amazing Cobb Salad with biscuits and deviled eggs and bites of Brad's yummy food. What a wonderful, blessed day!