Pumpkin Patch and Auburn

A few weekends ago we traveled over to Loachapoka, AL…yes, that’s a real place just past Auburn–I even had to do some teaching over there when I was in school, which was QUITE the experience, but that’s another story.

Anyway, we decided to head over that way because we heard about a pick-your-own patch and I wanted Luke to see how pumpkins grow.  He LOVED it.  It was really cold and windy that morning so pictures were not easily taken, but we managed to get a few.

No, he doesn’t have to go to the bathroom…he was just twisting his pants around his fingers.  Go figure…this was the best smile we got out of him and he’s doing this. 

After we finished picking out our fine pumpkins, we headed into Auburn for a day of walking around and reminiscing and eating at Momma Goldberg’s.  It was a blast.  We also got to visit with Bethany a little bit.

Here are our pretty little pumpkins at home on our front porch.

Also, I got a request to share how we did the crayon shaving leaves that I shared in the last post.  I didn’t take pictures as we did it so I hope my instructions make sense.

1. First, get your crayon shavings together.  I just pulled out broken crayons in fall colors and used a small handheld pencil sharpener to create my shavings.

2. Cut leaf shapes (I used patterns I had from my teaching days) out of wax paper…two for each shape leaf.  Make sure they match up pretty well or it won’t work well.

3. Cut leaf shapes (slightly larger than the wax paper shapes) out of construction paper. Then cut the ‘inside’ out of the leaf shapes leaving you with a small ‘border’ to frame your final result.  I used black, but any color will do.

4. Now you are ready for the fun part.  Lay one wax paper leaf down on an old towel of some sort…make sure it is a towel you don’t mind getting messed up.  Sprinkle some crayon shavings (whatever colors you want) on the wax paper, but make sure it is not too much…it doesn’t take a lot.

5. Cover the wax paper leaf with its matching shape and then cover both pieces with a towel (I used one towel…laid it out horizontally and then folded it back over the wax papers so that the leafe shape was sandwiched inside).

6. With your iron set on med-high, iron the towel directly over the wax paper leaves and keep checking until desired look is accomplished…this is where it gets messy because the melted wax seeps out if you iron too much.

7. Next, glue your construction paper ‘frame’ to both sides of the wax paper leaf…and you’re done!