Autumn '09

So what have we been up to in the past couple of months? Well, since you asked...

The months of September and October are always full of seasonal activities. Sometime in mid-September we go apple picking with our family. This year we also went with my sisters, mom, and our friends. It was a beautiful evening, and the kids had fun climbing the trees, going on the hayride, running through the pumpkin patch, and of course, sampling the apples.






Then in October it is the other side of the family's turn as we go out to eat, and then on to the pumpkin patch with Ed's parents, brother and sister. We had a gorgeous fall day this year, and it was so much better than the torture we endured last year. Last year we had a 2 hour wait for lunch, which meant that we ate around 2, then the day was unseasonably warm in the 80's, so we were baking out in the fields. Plus the babies were overdue for their naps and d-o-n-e. I left thinking "Never again". Yet, we decided to give it one more try- setting out earlier in the day so that we wouldn't have to wait to be seated, and not over Kaelin's nap time. The tradition was redeemed by a perfect day.








Later that same day our family took a walk in a nearby park and enjoyed the sights and sounds of autumn in PA.




On Halloween we finally got around to carving our pumpkins. Each kid picked a design to put on a pumpkin. They all helped to scoop out the goop, and then Ed and I set to work on the tricky part of carving.

We ended up with
a cat:


a soaring owl (hard to see):


a silly face:


and a winky emoticon;)
For the kids' costumes this year I had a plan brewing to dress them up as Wendy, Peter Pan, and Tinkerbell. N had plans of his own to be Optimus Prime, since last year when his friends were and I told him he could be it next year. So we were driving home from Target and he asks me

"What am I going to be for Halloween?"

"Peter Pan"

pause..."I thought I was going to be Optimus Prime..."

I was feeling a little guilty, so I decided to compromise. "Ok, you can be Optimus Prime for the school parade, and then Peter Pan when we go trick-or-treating."

longer pause..."How 'bout if I am Optimus Prime for both?"

"How about if you are Peter Pan for both?"

"OK, I'll be Optimus Prime for school, and Peter Pan at home"

"Great!"

Ed shook his head when he heard this story, and didn't quite agree with my hijacking the kids' costume ideas. But I figured this is probably the last year I can do this cute theme, so I went ahead anyway, feeling a little guilty but they were so cute on Halloween!
Here is N as Optimus Prime at school:

And here are the 3 kids as Wendy, Tinkerbell and Peter Pan:


And N even got into it once he was given a dagger as part of the costume:


The actual night was rainy, but the kids still had fun. I had to take K back early when she complained about the rain,"My princess is wet!" and begged to go inside one of our neighbor's homes "My go inside?". She was so in love with her costume that she insisted on wearing it the next morning over her pj's.
Maybe I can convince her to be Tink again next year