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Yesterday was Columbus day - and where we live it is a holiday. That means no school for kids and no work for hubby. Last year we went away. This year we went Pumpkin Picking. It is a family tradition - each year, we head out to the farmlands and pick pumpkins sometime in October. We have been going to the same place for years. Each year we drive about 45 minutes to "our" place. Pass all the big flashy farms with thier corn mazes and hot cider and pricey admission to a little corner family farm where we can pick pumpkins and go home. Guess what? Our little family farm has sold out. Gone is the pumpkin picking field and in its place is the corn maze and haunted house and money making stuff. Dissapointed that we couldn't go out in the field to pick pumkins, we decide to pass and find somewhere new. We drove along the winding roads, enjoying the farms and fields and came across one of the big, flashy, pumpkin picking farms and decided to stop before the kids killed each other in the back seat. We roamed through the fields and picked our perfect pumpkins. Okay - lets go... but the kids wanted to try the corn maze so we walked over to see what it was all about. $10 each to walk through corn... that's $50 for my family which equals a week worth of dinners. After just spending $40 on 65 pounds worth of pumpkins, I had to say no. It turned a fun morning into a silent ride home - Mae was really upset, and she held back the tears. We have done it in the past - but these days $50 is a lot to blow just to walk around corn. I felt guilty as I tried to explain it just wasn't in the budget. I wish I could do everything but I know they have to learn that money has value and sometimes we have to equate what something costs with its true worth.

On the way back we stopped at the farm stand - I wanted to get Mums, they were 4 for $10 and they were the big giant ones that the grocery store has for 15 each. Mae wanted to know why I would spend $10 on flowers on not on her? I told her the flowers would last more than a 15 minute maze walk and would be something beautiful for us all to look at. I didn't get much of a response to that ... when we got home and put the flowers on the front porch, she did tell me how nice they looked.

Cara's two cents: We went local..$15 to get in...$15 for pumpkins....$3 for a candy apple....and $6 for hot apple cider.....so much for priceless. :)