You ever had one of those days when life seemed set against you? Yeah, that was this morning.

Today was the annual trip to the pumpkin patch with Leina’s preschool class. The girls were so excited to pick pumpkins. Here in the burbs, there are alot of working farms around so a trip to the pumpkin patch involves petting every type of farm animal plus one, fresh pressed apple cidar, hay mazes and tractor rides. It’s really rather incredible. Especially coming from SoCal where the pumpkin patch was a corner lot next to the gas station that the local boyscouts manned with some old hay strewn about. Here, pumpkins are a big deal.

I think you can see why the girls were so excited. We had talked about it all week and I’ll admit I was a bit twittery too. I love holding baby chicks and petting fresh puppies as much as the next kid. I imagined myself sipping hot cidar, chatting with the other moms, while our adorable children ran amoungst fields of bright orange pumpkins squealing with delight. Ok, maybe a bit optomistic. Ok, maybe alot. But imagine my distress when Leina woke in a black funk claiming her tooth hurt her. Closer inspecting revealed that the side of her face was slightly swollen. She just had her dentist xrays 3 weeks ago so I knew it was nothing major. She has very very sensitve jaws and the slightest movement of her teeth causes her extreme pain. Trust me, I’ve seen this girl teething and it is hell on earth. Really. I had thought I was done once her 2 yr molars popped through but I guess not. Luck me.

Because her teeth hurt, she refused to eat. You think Leina with sore teeth is bad, try making her hungry as well. Like her father, Leina quickly turns grumpy when hungry. The idea of dragging her around a pumpkin patch with a swollen face and a grumbling stomach was not my idea of fun. However, I did survive teething and had learned a few trick of the mom trade. I am not about medicating my children so out came the tylenol. Add to that, thinly sliced banana wedges and lots of milk and I had her semi-human and we headed for the door with 2 minutes to spar. Of course, that’s when Kulia stopped, squatted, and announced “poopie mommmie!”

Oh my. But we made it. The animals and pumpkins were enough to keep Leina mildly entertained but she didn’t have a very good time. There was lots of whining, irrational tears because the pumpkins were too dirty, and mommy cursing artfully whispered under my breath. I’ve decided we will go again with Kevin once the tooth ache is passed for a second try. But I’me very disappointed that the stars were so misaligned this morning. Oh yes, and did I mention that Kevin has a 5:30pm conference call tonight and won’t be home ’til very very late?

But here are the best shots of my pumpkin girls. Enjoy.