A Field Trip to Pass the Off Day.

Angie and I tagged along with Rakes and his pre-school class on their field trip to the Pumpkin Patch today. It was a damp, rainy day, but we had a blast. Plus, it took my mind off the fact that I won't see the Sox play until tomorrow, when Father Curt extends our post season one more day.

First picture is Rakes and his buddy Tommy sitting atop the giant spider hay bale: you wouldn't believe the convincing it took to get him up there if I told you.

Here, Rakes is giving me his best serial killer look while in the corn maze: I'll admit it, I had a few horror movie images float through my mind. He looks a tad demented here. On a side note, we had to do the maze three times: I'm just hoping he wasn't practicing for any future corn field encounters.

Here's Rakes pretending to be a cat: how he can look ornery in this setting, I have no idea. Yet he pulls it off like a true pro.

Rakes and his friend Natalie: he wants her to "Come to my house for dinner and a deep over Dad". He's three, and already wanting girls to stay the night: yep, that's my boy. I've got a sinking feeling I'm going to be getting a lot of phone calls during his teenage years.

Rakes and his old soccer foe Jeremy during story time: leave it to those two to find the only ghost at the pumpkin farm and plop down right next to it. Could have been worse, I suppose: they could have tackled it to the ground before beheading it. I take my small moral victories wherever I can get them.

A rare shot of Rakes being still with his Dad: hey, it doesn't happen every day. I'll always treasure pictures like this: you only get to have one first born son.

Tomorrow, baseball will be played in Fenway Park. And Curt Schilling will be taking the ball and hoping to extend the Sox season by one more game: me? I think he's up for the task. Watching Beckett dominate the Indians last night seems to have pumped the old guy up.

I've said it since Tuesday night: we get back to Boston, and all bets are off. But for today, getting to spend some time with my boy was just what the doctor ordered.