Just Country Boys and Girls Gettin' Down on the Farm

What do pumpkins, apples, aliens, Care Bears, and goats have in common? Easy, they're all part of the Fall Festival at Cox Farms in Centreville, VA. (We'll revisit the Care Bears later..)

You already know my love of Fall - or Autumn, if you're fancy - is intense. It is greater than my love of award season but less than my love of the Christmas season. And you know how I love a photo op with my nephew. So, when Melissa asked if I wanted to go to the pumpkin patch with them, I thought about it for all of three - nay two - seconds. Pumpkins, apple cider, hayride? The Ultimate Fall Trifecta.
After researching local pumpkin patches, Melissa decided that we shouldn't just settle for pumpkins, we should do the whole shebang - Fall Festival.
Saturday morning, we loaded up the car and made the 45ish minute drive to Centreville. First, we stopped at a 7-11 for coffee so everyone could get caffeinated to keep from becoming jackass-o-lanterns. (That's the Halloween equivalent of Scrooge). We all fueled up on our hot beverages of choice (green tea for me, natch) while the youngest member of our carpool promptly passed out. Much like if he were the first to pass out a party, we took pictures around him. That's how a road trip works, Squeaks. No exceptions for babies.

Much to Pete's chagrin, Melissa and I made him ride up front by himself chauffeur-style. But what he didn't understand was that we had really important things to do - like download this game from the Ellen Show and showcase our knowledge of celebrity trivia. I dare you to challenge us in such a game. 

This is how you play the game. Well, ok, not exactly.

As we approached the farm, we saw a line of traffic and immediately thought "uh-oh." (Enter jackass-o-lantern attitudes here). I had flashbacks to spending many an hour in the car trying to get to the Renaissance Festival in Charlotte a few years ago. (Don't judge, like you don't like giant legs of turkey and flowers in your hair). Fortunately, the line moved quickly and Cox Farms had the traffic/parking thing down. After buying our tickets, which included the cost of a pumpkin, we walked around to get the lay of the land. As you may remember, I'm no stranger to a farm. 

First panoramic photo on my new phone. (Pete actually took it because I didn't know how.) That's my sis Snapchatting.

After getting a feel for all the Fall Festival had to offer - and checking out goats and a ginormous smelly pig named Miranda - we decided to grab some lunch. We determined that kettle corn could not be an acceptable lunch, so we settled on pulled pork bbq (sorry, Miranda). I also threw in a hot apple cider because I was all-in, fully-committed to this Fall afternoon. Go big or go home - am I right?

Sorry The Government Shut Down, But Here's a Picture of a Plane

With many of you furloughed because of the government shut down, I figured I'd start to post my backlog of entries, so that you have something to read. I'm a good friend. Sorry you don't have a paycheck, but here are some pictures and words about things I did three weeks ago.

So, let's travel back - back to a time when you all got paid for your work and the Panda Cam at National Zoo was on and streaming. Ah, the good ol' days.

It was about three weeks ago when I received a text from my sister that read, "So, apparently Pete is pulling a plane."

I thought, "Is this some kind of expression I don't know? Like 'pulling a fast one'?"
Maybe it means he's taxiing the driveway and eating tiny bags of pretzels. Or, you see him standing outside the window but he tells you he can't do anything for another 3 hours so you should just go buy yourself a bag of Swedish Fish and an US Weekly and wait.

That seems like a very specific expression.

To the surprise of no one, I was wrong. It wasn't an expression. He was literally pulling a plane. Like, with a rope.

Don't worry, I was confused when I first heard too. Why would anyone do that? Don't planes have wheels and engines? Is this like when people voluntarily hand wash clothes even though their washing machine literally has a setting called "hand wash"? Maybe I'm just lazy. 

Turns out the Dulles Day Plane Pull is actually a very cool fundraiser for Special Olympics - a totally valid reason to pull a plane. I decided I needed to see this feat of strength for myself.