Don’t go big, go small….

Last night I took the kids to the PB Pumpkin patch https://pbpumpkinpatch.com/. Yes, it’s “at the beach”. Well, it’s really in a parking lot close to the beach, but it’s super cute and the ground is covered in hay. And it was deserted, which was perfect! You might wonder why I didn’t go to one of the more popular patches in San Diego? Well, just between us, convenience is one of my top priorities nowadays. I refuse to drive 40 minutes east to fight the crowds for a pumpkin. My other reason has to do with my life. Going through a divorce and becoming a single mom has made me emotionally sensitive to certain places, especially ones that are full of two parent families. So I’ve learned that for right now, avoiding certain situations are good for me. No need to get all emotional and sad that it’s just me and the kids! Small pumpkin patches = less crowds and more fun.

Also, hugely selfish reason, but I love driving to the beach. The view as we roll over the bridges and check out the sparkling water and sailboats beats the view driving to Alpine. Let me reiterate: cool breeze, beach views.

So back to our pumpkin patch outing. It was a weeknight, so after naps and tv time, we arrived around 5 pm, parked in the adjacent (and empty) parking lot, and had the patch to ourselves. This was already a step up from last year’s experience where I had to pay $10 to park in a dirt lot. Seriously….but I digress. Despite the odd proximity to Maverick’s, and the yappy hour for non parental millenials that was taking up the other half of the parking lot, it was truly perfect!

Because in all honesty, who can turn down free hot apple cider and a table set up with placemats, paper towels, paint, and carving tools to decorate the pumpkins? Feeling generous, I let my kids choose two pumpkins each and they got to work creating true masterpieces with that acrylic paint. Added mom bonus: no painting mess at my house, and with no crowds, we could park ourselves at that picnic table for as long as we wanted! Which, we ended up doing. We stayed and played and stayed some more. Around 6:30, when I realized my kid carriage was about to turn into a pumpkin because we had, gasp, not yet eaten dinner, I realized this place even sold hotdogs!! Yes, it was a one stop shop that was perfect for my little family of three. Pumpkins, painting, cider and hot dogs. And want to know the best part? The best part was that a simple night at a small pumpkin patch was the perfect setting for my 4 year old daughter to plunk herself on my lap, a rare moment these days. And as the sun began to set and the light cast a final glow across my kids faces, I thought, “life is good”. Because despite it all, it is.