Every day the Pumpkin Patch is open, there are hours of setup work. We usually have 400-600 school kids each day which I welcome, tag with bracelets and let them loose. This year since schools are not in session so there are no buses to bring them out. That's probably a good thing.
There are however, many home school, preschool and special ed groups that ARE coming out. I corralled 120 kids and 50 adults yesterday, trying to keep them separate from the pumpkin buyers. What a task THAT was! Sometimes I wonder why we even have ears to hear, because no one listens. I'll be honest, home school kids are the most unruly on the planet.
This is our little snack bar with a side of hot dogs, nachos and snow cones.
I began the day at 8:00, cleaning and stocking, pulling out slivers I got under my fingernail (ouch) and finding bandaids for those falls from running when told not to run! Throw in a drive or two on the tractor just for good measure.
It's funny how hard it is to get people to leave at their appointed time. We close for one hour to restock and set up for the Friday night crowd. Parents just didn't want to leave. I can't say as I blame them, it's a beautiful place, outdoors with fresh air ... who would want to go?
At 2:00 I pushed the pumpkin buyers out so we could set up for movie night. No cutting and hacking here, they are all Disney Halloween movies, family friendly. Everyone brings in their chairs at 6:00 and sets up in front of the big white screen. It's like a drive-in without the cars.
That means the snack bar was slammed. Even with five girls and myself working, we could barely keep up. I steamed my hand nicely, along with 200 hotdogs and almost 200 servings of nachos. I won't say they are giving the food away, but it is VERY cheap. This family refuses to overcharge.
By 4:00 my feet were talking to me using very bad language. We finally got the place cleaned up and were out by 8:00. Yup ... I'm dying on the vine.
I'll be back at it today at 8:30, setting up for the next big crowd. My plan is to spend a lot of time sitting while I give directions.
Mileage to date: 70.47 Yesterday it was a solid 8 miles. Feet don't fail me now!!
The Home Schooled Kids are going bananas after being cooped up for so long. Seeing other kids brings the animal out in them.
ReplyDeleteWhen duty calls there is no time to relax.
Be Safe and Enjoy giving orders.
It's about time.
You may be right about the kids. Although every year the home schooled kids are much rowdier than the public school kids. Those public school teachers don't put up with much.
DeleteAt the Library we found the home school kids to be the best, but it is a completely different demographics than what you are faced with.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that funny? Every year, they are the worst at listening to instructions and doing what they are told. They always seem to cause the most trouble.
DeleteFrom yesterday
ReplyDeleteIf you get Internet service With or without TV service one of the questions you wanna ask is when you go on vacation can you shut it off and restart with no fee The same as your dish network
One of the good things about having Standalone Internet And having a TV that has Roku it gives you access to movies unfortunately Netflix prime and Hulu are paid subscriptions but there still a lot of other stuff on there that’s free. And the best part unlimited gigs
Too bad your next-door neighbor couldn’t give you the password to his Internet service for half price Or if you find an open Wi-Fi router
I have Dist network and they don't have dsl here. The only one available is Comcast, now Xfinity. That's the main problem is paying for it when I'm gone. This is a rather rural neighborhood near a small town, so not much in the way of services.
DeleteYeah I have to agree with Rick about the home school kids. A lot of them are not being home schooled because they want to. Parents either! Wish they'd open the schools back up! I love your last picture, looks so old fashioned!
ReplyDeleteThere actually are a lot of home schooled kids around here. The problem is definitely the parents. There seems to be no discipline at all. Most everything on the ranch is old ... the barn over 100 years old, the windmill over 100 years and all the old equipment set up for picture taking. People love that.
DeleteI'm with Shirley. She said exactly what I was going to. Your last photo is my favourite! :)
ReplyDeleteThe barn is my favorite too ... it used to be an old dairy. The setting is gorgeous!
DeleteNo thanks, 10 kids would be too many!
ReplyDeleteHahahaha I totally agree!!!
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