Pumpkins, leaves, laughter, fall

Fall seems to be passing us by at an alarming pace.  I cannot believe in one more week, it will be time for Halloween and then we will be in November.
 
The heat is on all the time in our house now.  It is getting into the 30's at night and really only into the low 60's during the day.  We love this time of year.  The sun shines, the leaves change colors, and the air is cool, but not cold.  I wish it could stay this way until March and we just skip over the below zero weather and deep snow.

Last weekend, Mat and I took the kids to a local apple orchard to run through a corn maze, get a fresh apple pie, and pick this years pumpkins.

We had not been to this particular orchard before, so it was fun to try something new.  We remembered about half way there that we forgot the camera.  It was a good 45 minute one way ride, so we decided that Mat's blackberry was going to have to do (and it is a nice little camera believe it or not!)

 We started our day at the corn maze.  The orchard was packed with people.  This is a very large, very popular orchard, but to protect where we live, I will not be giving the name.  Not that it needs my help - it was packed.  We waited in a car line for quite awhile before we got a parking spot.

 The corn maze was huge.  Arlington had the best time in there.  They gave us a map, and a list of questions, and every time we came to a post, we had to read a question to find out what way to go.

 The questions were simple, but Arlington was in charge, so she loved that.

Finley could not figure out what was taking us so long to get to the pumpkins.  She kept asking if the pumpkins were "coming up soon".  She was not pleased when we emerged from the maze and in front of her was not the pumpkin patch.

We went to the store where they sell their famous apple products.  Here is a small shot of the people in the store.

 Crazy, right?  While Mat stood in line, the kids and I hunted for a small pumpkin for each of them to carry home.  We ended up with three little pumpkins and a delicious apple pie and cider before heading to the big pumpkin patch.

 This orchard is not known for its pumpkins, but there were plenty to pick from.  We had a hard time deciding, so we ended up with three pumpkins to carve.  One of them is green, yes.  That would be Mat's choice, and Cainan backed him up, so it came home with us.

We didn't carve the pumpkins until Monday night when Mat's parents arrived.  I was glad we waited so that we could all enjoy this activity together.

 We let the kids each pick a pumpkin and draw their own face on it.

 Then Mat carved them out and we got out the seeds.  (Sally, Mat's mom always roasts the pumpking seeds and that is the best).

Cainan dug in for the first time ever.  He doesn't like to get his hands dirty or slimy, but this year - he didn't mind.  It was so great to watch.

Finley and Arlington had no problem gutting the pumpkin and making a mess.  Finley took her time and pulled the seeds out of the goo and put them in the bowl.

Here is the end result of the kids pumpkins.

Cainan's is the green, Finley's is the one in the middle, and Arlington's in on the right.

This week went by quickly - Mat was out of town for a few days, so Mat's parents were in visiting.  It was nice getting to spend time with them and I was glad they were here to keep me company.  The kids were sad to see them go on Thursday.

Today we didn't have anywhere to go - thank goodness.  We slowly got ready this morning and headed outside.  It was a beautiful day, and it was time to rake the leaves.  With the 1 million trees we have around our property, we can't get around raking each year.

 We raked our first leaf pile of the season and let the kids have a great time for several hours while we raked the rest of the yard.

Arlington even helped this year - she raked for awhile and then she used the leaf blower.  I cannot wait until they are all old enough to take over this activity.

 After we raked and the kids got their fill of jumping in the leaves, we headed inside to clean up and watch "Fantastic Mr. Fox" with the kids.  It was a cute movie.

We had pumpkin pancakes for dinner (made from scratch thank you very much) and then spent time together before it was time for the kids to go to bed.

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Just a reminder that on November 4th is the Spagetti Dinner for Finley in Connellsville!  Here again is the announcement, so please mark it on your calendar.  The basket raffle is getting huge and is going to be SO FUN!  And there will be a 50/50, t-shirts for sale and wristbands for sale.  So come and support Finley with the wonderful, yummy event.

 See you Tuesday.