Everyone looked forward to the thrid grade because our field trip was to the pumpkin patch. During October we studied about pumpkins in school. We read books about pumpkins, did arithmetic word problems that included pumpkins, wrote stories about pumpkins, and even drew pictures of pumpkins for Art class. We knew everything we thought we'd ever need to know about pumpkins.

Mrs. Selmi's family ran the pumpkin patch. It was just down from the school so the whole class could walk there. We knew we had to be extra good on that trip.

     "All right class, today is pumpkin day," Mrs. Selmi said, and everyone shouted with joy. "When we get there each of you will pick out a pumpkin for yourself. Remember, you must pick one that you can carry back to school, then later to home. So, don't get the biggest one you see," she said, looking at the boys in the class.

     "Now, everyone get with your partners. You must stay with each other and hold hands when you cross the street. Stay on the sidewalk at all times to and from school." The walk went without incident.

     The pumpkins were piled high in the front yard and spread out in a big circle. Everyone just stood there and stared at the huge pile. Some of the workers told us again the many facts of how pumpkins grew. But all we wanted to do was find one to take home. We tried to lift different sized pumpkins and if they were too heavy they were returned to the pile. Most of the students found a pumpkin they could carry and were chatting with others in the class. However, some boys still thought they could carry larger pumpkins and chose them.

     Mrs. Selmi saw them struggling to carry the pumpkins and said, "Boys, I think you'd better choose one just a bit smaller. Let me help you find some." Each boy reluctantly put down his large pumpkin and began searching for one the the teacher would accept.  After a short search they all found pumpkins that passed Mrs. Selmi's approval. They were happy because theirs were still bigger than most of the others in the class.

     When we returned to school, Mrs. Selmi talked again about pumpkins. She told us we could have our moms bake the seeds for us to eat or have pumpkin bread or pie made from the pumpkin. I'm sure we weren't thinking of eating them but about the faces we would carve on them.

     Our field trip was a success and it turned out to be a good day at school. When we arrived at home we proudly showed our parents the pumpkins we chose. Our older brothers and sisters had already seen them and had passed judgment as to whether they were worth carving or not. But Mom and Dad thought they were nice. We drew faces on them and with the help of our older siblings cut them out. It was a wonderful third grade field trip and a great Halloween as well.