A Georgia Girl in Germany

Benjamin’s kindergarten class took an optional class trip to a local pumpkin farm shortly before Halloween. They can’t really afford to do off-site-during-school field trips (meaning they can only do walking field trips on base), so this was an informal trip for families as well.

The Sunshine Farm Pumpkin Patch was pretty neat -- we were able to wander the fields and select pumpkins right out of the field! Of course, Benjamin selected on immediately, and didn’t let it out of his hands.

MacKenzie found a large one, and immediately tried to convince me to get it for her. It had good color, but really was rather large, so I convinced her to keep looking.

Zachary was very thorough in his search, and even traipsed through the field where the vines hadn’t been cleared away as much. He found a decent-size one that should make for good carving.

Benjamin enjoyed finding flowers still on some vines, and I explained that the flowers would eventually turn into pumpkins. He was amazed at how that works, and kept pointing out more flowers, and reminding me that more pumpkins would be growing. I’d say he learns quickly!



MacKenzie was persistent in her search for the biggest pumpkin out there. Zachary even tried to help her roll one out of the field, but didn’t make it more than a few yards. Finally, she convinced me to carry this one out for her. Egads, was it heavy!

After making our pumpkin selections, the farmer offered to take the group to see his livestock. We all piled in a trailer being pulled behind a tractor and were on our way.

We first came to the barn with some dairy cows. Benjamin didn’t like the smell. He disliked it so much that he wouldn’t let go of his nose, only stepped inside the barn for a few seconds, and had huge tears in his eyes as he asked when the tractor would return to take us back.

We walked to the next barn and saw two ponies (from outside, so the smell wasn’t nearly as bad) before going inside to see lots of younger cows and calves.

MacKenzie was brave enough to feed the cows in these pens. They’re all tagged and tracked because of Mad Cow Disease, and even the feeding system is pretty advanced -- it’s computerized and determines how much formula to mix for each specific cow based on age (a lesson in mot letting appearances fool you, the farm is very rustic-looking, and didn’t appear to be a large-scale operation). Benjamin, on the other hand, kept calling out, “Mama, come on, let’s go!” I don’t know if he was truly worried about being left behind or if he simply wanted to get away from the cow smell.

Soon, we passed an indoor pig pen and came to an open yard with about a dozen chickens and with two geese on the opposite side of the fence. MacKenzie and Benjamin enjoyed petting this brown chicken. MacKenzie kept asking me how to pick up a chicken, but when the farmer offered to let kids hold it, she showed no desire.

Benjamin soon found this little covered area where the chickens would hide. With two classes-worth of kindergarteners (and associated siblings -- younger and older -- running around, I don’t blame them!). At one point, there must have been 10 chickens hiding from the young visitors here.



As a bonus, here’s one of Benjamin’s drawings -- our house surrounded by pumpkins. Can you tell he’s ready for Halloween to get here?

Labels: Benjamin, MacKenzie, Zachary