It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

I just LOVE this time of year! The cooler weather, leaves beginning to change, all the fun fall festivals and events, not to mention Halloween and the search for the "great pumpkin". On Saturday, we took a little day trip to Calera, AL (between Birmingham and Montgomery) where we rode a 97-year-old train complete with red caboose out to a pumpkin patch and hay ride.




Ben wasn't even scared of the whistles and screeching; he was just really curious about what was going on. He even got to meet the conductor and wear his hat! (Naturally, the conductor's pocket watch went straight into Ben's mouth just after the picture was taken!)





When we arrived to the patch, there were lots of people waving and welcoming us. We had a great time searching for the pumpkin that was the most round and smooth for carving and had the longest stem. It didn't take us long to find the perfect one.





Ben had fun seeing all the bright orange everywhere. Adam would say that is to be expected from the littlest Vols fan though! :-) He took a little taste of some hay and met a scarecrow in the patch too!




While at the patch, we also rode the hay ride around a field and got a nice view of the grapevines.




Then it was time to go! On the way back to the station, we rode in an outside cab of the train. Ben took in all the sights and sounds and just seemed to thoroughly enjoy the ride. It was so cute to watch him with the wind on his face swing his little bare feet while his Daddy held him tight!





The ride took us through some pretty scenery, including a pond and a golf course where we saw a bunch of turkeys. They ran as soon as the train went by. They must know what other holiday is coming up!




Fall has just got to be the best time of year!