Visiting the Pumpkin Patch, Friday October 10, 2008

Friday, Oct 10th was a school holiday, so when the kids called to ask us if we wanted to join them at the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island, we said, "Sure".   We had not yet been to Sauvie Island, which actually sits between the Columbia River and Scappoose on the mainland.   The island is about 27 to 30 miles long and starts just at the northwest end of Portland (20 miles south of us) and goes north, in the Columbia River, bordering the mainland to St Helens (8 miles north of us).   The island is separated from the mainland by the Multnomah Channel, which is the one of last parts of the Willamette River that comes north through Oregon to Portland, before it empties into into the Columbia River.

We met Christopher, Amber, Isaac and Abigail at the Pumpkin Patch.    The first order of business was to get into the wagon being pulled by the big tractor so we could be pulled around the Pumpkin Patch.  Isaac loves trucks, tractors, and basically anything with wheels, and was so excited to see the tractor up close.   As you can see from the top photo, we were right at the front of the wagon behind the tractor and could see all the mud and gook we were being pulled through.    It was fun, and fortunately the driver went very slow and the tractor's wheels did not throw any mud up on us.

After being driven around the patch once, we took the ride again, but this time we got out when the driver stopped at the half-way point, so we could walk around in the patch and pick out our pumpkins.    We brought home three, along with some Indian Corn, gourds and lots of apples for eating and pie making.  Then, Hanna, DeeDee, and I walked over to the corn maze and promptly got lost inside the maze.    We wandered back and forth, around and around, and finally after about 45 minutes came to the exit.   We had not expected the ground to be so muddy and were only wearing tennis shoes on our feet, and boy oh boy, did we get muddy.  We stopped to sit on some hay bales to try to clean some of the guck off our shoes.    And, as you can see, Hanna is wearing the cap and scarf DeeDee made for Hanna as a birthday present.     

All in all, we had a great time, which actually concluded on Saturday morning Oct 11th, when Hanna and I made an apple pie with some of the apples we brought back.    Another culinary delight to add to the food Hanna likes here, as she had not had an apple pie with a top crust on it before.