it feels like fall- saturday

this past weekend was the epitome of autumn.
saturday

my mom sits on the board of a non-profit in dc which helps children and families in need. she came up with the idea for their fall event, a pumpkin patch. to most people this may seem very redundant. a pumpkin patch in the fall big deal, but this event was for kids and teens who have never had the opportunity to go to a pumpkin patch. since it was her event we had to be there hours before hand. the plan was to wake up at 8, leave the house by 9, stop at the convention center to pick up my dads marathon crap, and get to the site by 10 am. of course it did not work out this way. we left the house on time as it drizzled. we get to DC by 9:25, good timing since there was no traffic. as we are driving into the city my little brother calls.

brother: dad said that you need an authorization letter to get his packet
me: umm, excuse me, he didn't give me any letter
brother to dad: she said she doesn't have a letter
brother: dad says just write one
me: we are about to get onto constitution avenue!!
brother: just write it on paper
me: we are in the car. (i then see that constitution ave was closed) ugh bye!

so typical of my dad, having the bro call because he knows i'ma be pissed. it turns out half the roads are closed so we waste 15 minutes circling around trying to get into the city. it is then that we realize we are running low on gas. as we drive through "the ghetto" we find it nearly impossible to find a gas station, correction, a working gas station that will take a debit/credit card. we finally find a bp with a dunkin donuts, we think, that must be legit right? my mom, frustrated can't get her card to work. she has to get an attendant who informs her she can't use her debit card, she swipes her credit card and has to type in her zip code because a lot of stolen credit cards are used at this gas station. lovely. we zoom out of there and quickly arrive at the site.

"there are NO balloons"-inefficient detective....



my mom is displeased at the lack of balloons at the entrance. she was hoping for a grand arch of balloons or some shit like that. the site or campus as they call it, is actually quite beautiful with sprawling grass and trees, you almost forget you are in dc to begin with. the area is decorated with small hay stacks, scare crows and some big ass pumpkins (bigger than expected). the event i set up inside because of the call for rain. there is arts and crafts, pumpkin mini golf, popcorn and cotton candy, and other things, basically a little kids dream. a small woman comes in carrying a giant chocolate sheet cake donated from the ritz as well as dozens of cute little cupcakes. everything was so festive. the staff is dressed up in costumes. wonder woman, storm, a ghostbuster, catwoman, a witch, i was sorta jealous. i say to my mom, you didn't tell me we were supposed to dress up. she replies, i said we could dress up at ninjas. she never said that but i resist the urge to inform her of this. as the little kids start to come in my heart melts and my ovaries ache. kids in costumes are almost as cute as kids in fan gear.

the event goes well, a lot of kids and teens come out. they really enjoy the moon bounce and the mini hay ride. i stayed away from they hay ride because it was being driven by a small john deer tractor and this reminded me of that ghastly episode of mad men. i instead walk around taking pictures and helping kids make necklaces and little halloween bags. a few kids latched on to me including a little bi-racial girl dressed as that new princess from "a princess and a frog".

after it was over it started pouring. we forged the letter, i picked up my dad's running stuff, went to wegmans, went home and fell asleep at 6:00. i'm officially an old lady.