Harvest Time

Pretty good lookin' pumpkins, if I do say so myself.

Especially since we had such a hot, dry summer.  We're hoping we get more next year!

The Big Orange Pumpkin Patch

It was SO big, and SO orange, we had to go twice! 

The first time we went to Celina's famous Big Orange Pumpkin Farm, Brian and I took Sam on a Sunday afternoon, after waking Sam up from a short afternoon nap (a nap on Mama, no less). Late afternoon naps tend to make Sam cranky, as do naps cut short because we wake him up. He enjoyed the farm just not as much as we had expected. There was a lot of whining.

A lot of whining.

And I'm pretty sure we made the hayride fairly unpleasant for three other families. The massive crowds didn't help anybody's mood either!

But when we went with our playgroup, on a weekday, we pretty much had the place to ourselves and Sam had a bit more fun!  He enjoyed running around, feeding the goats and playing on the pumpkins.

Do I look like I'm ready for the hayride to be over?  Because I am.

And with both trips to the farm, we got to pick a small pumpkin straight off the vine.  Happy Fall!

Autumn Blooms

Fall has come to Texas!

Gram and Pops and I took Sam back to the Dallas Arboretum to enjoy some beautiful fall color!

Sam was a bit clumsy that day. It started before we left Gram and Pops' house, when he fell in their yard and rolled over some crushed acorns. Then at the Arboretum he fell in front of Strega Nona's house, right into a big mud puddle. After we wiped off all the mud on his face, all his bumps and scrapes were easier to see. Here's a little before-and-after:

But he was a trooper about it. We stopped for lunch on the lawn, changed his shirt and enjoyed the rest of the park. The pumpkin houses were so colorful. Sam especially loved Cinderella's mice and her carriage that had turned back into a pumpkin. There were many varieties of gourds, arranged in clever scenes.

 (swans in a pond)

We were a bit early for the mums, but the pumpkins were amazing. Everywhere you looked there were more and more pumpkins!

Another special treat was the concert playing on the north side. We stopped so Sam could listen.  He sat with Gram for a while and then and of course, he had to get his groove on!

He didn't make it back to the car before falling asleep.  Too many pumpkins for one little boy...

Pumpkin Carving

Daddy carved us one great pumpkin.

Sam was only mildly interested in the carving part and wouldn't have anything to do with the touching the slimy seeds part.  But he did enjoy looking at the lit pumpkin - even asked Daddy to light it first thing the next morning.