The Pumpkin Patch

Our county has a berry farm that features so-it-yourself strawberry picking in the spring and pumpkin picking in the fall. We hadn't been out there since Clay was just 3 so away we went one sunny Saturday. Boy, has it grown! There were more rides, more food, more everything!

We loaded the kids on a tractor-towed trailer and went off on a hay ride to the pumpkins. The kids had a ball running through the patch trying to select just the right pumpkin for their very own.










After getting more pumpkins than we really needed and loading them into the car, the kids tried out the attractions. They especially liked playing in a big tank filled with shelled corn.

Clay's Homecoming Parade

They start them young these days. Elementary schools have parades, homecoming games, pep rallies and homecoming queens. Clay is a cheerleader at her school and for her football team so off we went to the school where, sure enough, there was a fire truck, some police, and floats with cheerleaders and football players (all in mineature) throwing candy to the crowd. It was a pleasant way to spend and evening. And the kids had fun.

Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My!

We made a short trip to the zoo today with Tanner, Cammie and Rylan. What a pleasure to see them experience exotic animals for the first time. They enjoyed all the animals but got the biggest kick out of three small monkeys who were showing-out with a lot of swinging, screeching, and jumping around.

Our State Fair - 2007

We went to the Virginia State Fair which was a lot like the movie but without the romance, music, and Pat Boone. But it was a great state fair and the best one in our state! Neener.



We went to our state fair which, of couse is the best state fair in the state! No aruguments about that. We took Eddie and Melissa and their kids. Ginny went along to photograph the whole affair.

We did face painting, animal petting, junk food eating, ride riding, fishing for really cheaply-made stuffed toys, and lots of walking.

Judy's 45th Reunion

Mema went to Center, Texas for her 45th high school reunion. She had a little trouble finding Texas after landing in Shreveport, LA. and took a little longer than expected to find it. But she arrived OK and stayed with her friend, Kay.

Mema also stayed one night with Annie but only stayed up until 4:00AM catching up on gossip. While there, she managed to hit Annie's fence and put a little dent in the rental car. Somehow this was Papa's fault even though he was 1,300 miles away in Virginia.

The reunion was held in the historic Shelby County Courthouse. Mema was the MC so she decided to preside as judge over the class of '62 trying them for various fraudulent offenses. I think the alums enjoyed the whole affair.

After Mema dented the car, her friend, Kay put another dent in it. Seems this was Papa's fault too. Poor Avis got a pitiful wreck back.

The Big Fishing Trip

I suggested to Eddie, father of twins Cammie and Tanner, if he might want to take them fishing. He, of course said "yes!" What dad doesn't want to take his kids fishing? I had envisioned something out of Andy Griffith, you know, strolling down a country lane toward some litle fishing hole whistling a tune. So I bought a few inexpensive poles and some red worms at the local tackle shop and we were off.

It didn't turn out exactly like that at all. I also had hoped to catch a few lunkers (Uncle Scott would call them "slobs" but that didn't happen either.

As it turned out, Judy went and brought along much needed snacks and drinks. Ashley brought along Ryland and that was our party. We didn't exactly bring the pond's fish population to the brink of extinction but we snagged a couple of small blue gills and the kids found out what fish looked and felt like.

Tanner, ever the soft heart, felt bad about the fate of the worms and wanted to return them to the environment - I suppose by drowning since he wanted to pitch them into the water.

Ashley also felt sad about the worms but not sad enough to ask for someone else to bait her hook.

The kids had a ball thrashing the water with their poles, playing with the worms, and feasting on Mema's snacks. It was a perfect sunny day and after a couple of hours called it quits driving off just ahead of the game warden.

Ruben Goes for a Swim

Mema and I took Clay, Tanner, and Cammie to the river with Ruben. Ruben loves to retrieve tennis balls thrown into the river, come wading out and shower everyone within reach with water. The kids were just astounded that Ruben could actually swim but he showd 'em a thing or two about aquatics.






Afterwards, Mema had prepared a little picnic lunch of chips and P&J sandwiches.















On the hike back to the car, we came upon a couple of men fishing. Tanner was just fascinated by it. One of the men let Tanner hold a bare line with a worm on it. A fish gave it a little tug and Tanner promptly let go but we think at that moment he was "hooked" on fishing. It seemed to fit his temperament and he just held on the next try hoping for another bite that never came.