We arrived at Old Baker farm a little after 10am and it was packed. People everywhere. Last year, we didn't experience very large crowds, but we also went to the farm during the first week of October, not the last weekend before Halloween. We were forced to park in a field across the street from the main entrance. Fortunately the walk wasn't too bad, but I was concerned that we would have to wait in some pretty long lines before enjoying any of the attractions.
Unlike last year, I remembered to bring enough cash for admittance, so we had no trouble getting in. The first thing Phoenix spotted after entering was the Tumble Bus. Now, this was my first experience with the Tumble Bus, but I quickly learned that it was a school bus that had been gutted and re-fitted with all kinds of toys little kids enjoy - mini trampoline, zip line, slides, monkey bars, etc. Phoenix wanted to jump in right away. I paid the $2 admission fee and he climbed aboard.
He loved riding the zip line. He would call out to me and ask me to watch him. He would then report on everything he was doing, "Daddy, I climbed the monkey bars." "Daddy, I slid down the slide." I snapped a few pictures of his time inside the Tumble Bus, but it was a bit challenging. The only way parents could take pictures was through the back entrance to the bus. And with all the adults crowded around to get a look at their kids, you had to muscle your way through, like the paparazzi, to get off a clear shot.
I was amazed at how many vendors there were at the farm this year. There were all kinds of arts and crafts available to purchase. There were concession stands set up (including a place to get boiled peanuts, which were awesome, by the way) with all kinds of food. There was even a Civil War encampment, with all kinds of reenactors marching around, or riding horseback.
After the Tumble Bus, we took the boys over to this large, open trailer filled with cotton. Phoenix jumped right in. Fox was in his stroller and I really want him to get out and enjoy the cotton too. Wendy was a bit hesitant to let him join in, afraid that some of the larger kids would injure him. This is when I stepped in to rescue my little guy. I pulled him out of the stroller, took him to the trailer, and let him jump in. He had a blast. He jumped up and down, landing on his bottom each time. He laughed. He picked up cotton. He threw it around. Phoenix came over and wrestled with him for a little bit. They both had fun. However, I had to cut the fun short when Phoenix started throwing cotton out of the trailer. At that point, it was time to move on.
We worked our way down to the hay ride, where passengers were being loaded up and transported to the pumpkin fields for pumpkin extraction. It's a good thing we got in line when we did. There were already dozens of people ahead of us. Wendy and I were both concerned that we would have to wait a long time to get out to the pumpkin fields. You see, I was operating under a fairly tight timetable. I was scheduled to meet my parents around 4:30 that afternoon so we could drive to Tuscaloosa for the Alabama-Tennessee football game. Fortunately the line moved fairly quickly and we were amidst the hay bales and on our way to the pumpkin fields in no time.
Both boys loved being in the pumpkin patch. Phoenix immediately found a small pumpkin that was easy for him to carry. He decided that this was the pumpkin he wanted. It wasn't perfectly round like some of the others and it didn't have that bright orange color that pumpkins usually have. It was a little misshapen and bruised, but Phoenix loved it anyway. I asked him, "Wouldn't you rather have a nice orange pumpkin?" But he refused. I was actually proud of him for choosing a pumpkin that didn't look like all of the others; a pumpkin that wasn't as attractive.It reminded me of the little Christmas tree Charlie Brown picked out; a tree no one wanted.
Fox, on the other hand, would go over and stand by the biggest pumpkins in the entire field. He would try to lift them, but then when he realized that he couldn't, he would call out to me, "Dah-unh." I would look over at him and he would point down to the pumpkin at his feet. I wuld walk over, kneel down, and ask, "Do you want this pumpkin?" To which he responded, "Naw." Then he would wander over to another gigantic pumpkin, call out, "Dah-unh," point to the one he picked out, and say "Naw" again when I asked him if we wanted that one. This went on for a while.
We quickly chose 3 pumpkins for the family. We boarded the hay ride back to the main area of the farm. Before leaving for the day, we went to the barn where the boys saw pigs and goats, and I also let Phoenix run around inside the hay maze. After that, we grabbed a bag of boiled peanuts, loaded up our pumpkins and headed back to Birmingham. And I was in time to meet my parents for the Alabama-Tennessee football game, which we all know is the most important part of this story ;)
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