Our Fantastic Start of Fall Break

What's not to love about fall? The leaves are changing colors. The weather is perfect for jeans and sweatshirts, pumpkins, apple cider, and just spending time together as a family. And that is what we did last night.
After school, we headed to the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkins. Just a side note, I should not have let Ethan wear an orange shirt. He was looking for the "Great Pumpkin." We found a large one pretty quickly. We had to search and search for a "baby pumpkin" for Erica. All the pumpkins were too big for her taste. Ellie was so excited. She ran from pumpkin to pumpkin trying to pick them all up. She did find a baby pumpkin that had fallen off the vine. It was a little green and she lost it before we got back to the truck, but she was happy.

The search is on.
"Hey guys, wait up."

"I found my pumpkin!"

"Don't worry, I will get it."

trying,

still trying . . .

"Oh, I give up."

That's more like it!
Erica found a suitable pumpkin.

Ethan is very proud of his find.

Daddy hauled our finds back to the truck.

We will have lots of luck. There were ladybugs everywhere! On our hair, on our clothes, Ellie loved them, Ethan didn't slow down long enough to notice, and Erica wanted nothing to do with them.

trying to find their way out of the maze

Ahh, the slide

there she goes . . .

and she loved it!

They love, love, loved the petting zoo. Ellie tried to pet every animal even the turkeys. When we ran out of food to feed them, Ellie tried to feed them rocks off the ground.

my little pumpkins

And now for the "Farm Party" . . .

Each fall our school gets together with their families at the Paris Farm. It is a fun-filled evening. We have a wienie roast. There is a pond great for fishing. The kids love the rope swing. Paul and I even had to try it out. Sorry, there is no evidence of us "big kids" on the swing! Thank goodness. To finish the evening out, we take a hay ride around the property and star gaze. The star gazing was nil last night because of the clouds, but the temperature was perfect.

Erica took her turn at the rope swing, and loved it.

Ethan was trying to teach Mr. Bixler and Andrew how to row the boat. Yes, the mother in me panicked. Do you see what Ethan is NOT wearing in this picture? I certainly noticed.

Waiting their turn, apparently Ellie thought she was going to take a turn on the rope swing.

our peaceful setting for the farm party