We cruised out to The Pumpkin Patch this weekend – the whole family. It’s been a while since we all cruised out to do something together. It was good to get Max out of the house, hang out w/ mom and dad, and enjoy all the ups and downs of a family outing.
Visiting the Pumpkin Co seems to be the thing to do every year just before Halloween – the gateway holiday. We’ve gone there for at least the past 7 years. I suppose this is the first year I noticed how much things cost at this event (I’m pretty sure it’s because of all the constant news about the economy taking a dive). We probably spent about $100 or so that day. Lunch, Pumpkins, rides, the ‘maize’ were all part of the deal. It was a good time as usual, and bigger than last year – it gets bigger every year. The only thing I didn’t understand was why the cost of an adult ticket to go through the corn ‘maize’ was $2 more than a kids ticket. It’s not like they were selling lift tickets, or season passes. I could think of no logical reason for the tickets to cost more. I thought it was funny and unneccesary at the same time – It was Wally World in Terrebonne.
We left with some pumpkins and a little smile on Max’s face, which was all I really wanted to see actually. We’ve been having fun at home, but I could see he was getting ‘depressed’ – he actually used that word two nights ago. I never thought I would hear him say that, at least not at 10. I immediately thought of that TV commercial with all the depressed people, then they take a pill and they’re fine. Depression is a real problem for some people, but not for a boy who was completely fine a month ago.
Max has been a trooper. At times he’s shown frustration, anger, but for the most part happy.
Things are changing though. He’s more serious, cautious. At the Pumpkin Patch he was watching kids play mostly, some of whom who were his friends. He was reluctant to join them running around jumping from hay bail to hay bail. He was unsure and self-conscious. It took some time but he eventually engaged, and that was good to see. Max being Max, if for just a few moments.
I think getting out with the whole family did help. It was a beautiful weekend, and staying in building Lego sets was taking its toll. Life goes on, and he – along with Laurie and I – needed to see that, feel that – plus we needed some more pumpkins. We only were able to salvage two pumpkins from our garden. During this past month some things fell to the wayside, and one of those things was the garden.
It was good to spend some time w/ mom and dad too. It’s always great to spend time with them, they bring a certain comfort and reassurance to the whole family for sure. We had dinner at their house on Sunday after the patch. Good times.