Fall's Finest

Our backyard view says it all: Fall is here!

If that view doesn't prove it, the leaf piles throughout our neighborhood should. Emily spent the afternoon playing in a giant one over at Caitie's house along with her brothers Ben and Nick.

Look at those smiles. Such pure, simple joy. I hope they never end.

Pumpkin Patch

Today our township hosted a fall festival at a nearby park, and guess who we stumbled upon while there? Aunt Patti Lynn and cousin Kyleigh and Connor!

We took a hay ride to the "Great Pumpkin Patch" which was really just a ton of small pumpkins scattered across a giant field, but, hey, it's the closest our girls have come to a real pumpkin patch (since Linvilla already has the pumpkins picked and piled in boxes), so we'll take it.

Patti Lynn and the kids left the patch earlier than us, but no matter, because we found a few other friends along the way. This time, it was our neighbors (and Aunt Kelly and Uncle Rob's next door neighbors), Avery and Alex.

The point of the pumpkin picking was to find a pumpkin to paint at the festival, but by the time we made it back with our pumpkins, the painting station was a little chaotic. We promised the girls we would paint them at home and distracted them with spin art instead.

Once at home, as promised, I set the girls up to paint their carefully chosen pumpkins.

Portrait pumpkin by Emily, abstract by Kate, fun by all!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas. I love summer too. But, even more, I love when October rolls around and brings with it the cooler weather and the start of our favorite traditions. Actually, today still felt like summer, but nonetheless we took the girls to spend the day at what has become one of our favorite fall trips: Linvilla Orchards.

As always, we like to get a shot of the girls with all the pumpkins. I'll spare you most of the outtakes, and if you knew how many there actually were, you'd be grateful for my consideration.

Another classic shot is the "How Tall This Fall?" apple man, and I don't know if it was the heat or just the anticipation of all the other things to do, but Kate was not feeling it at all. She was already looking at the next stop!

There were a couple new spots this year as well, including a gazebo with benches stocked with more pumpkins, and another little sitting area made of hay.

Speaking of hay, of course we always have to take the hay ride. I think another reason I prefer cooler temps on a trip like this is because they naturally lead to more snuggling to keep cozy. On a hot day like today, I think we all wanted our own space!

I think our favorite tradition of all is the apple-picking with which we always end our trip here at Linvilla.

By now, Emily is an old pro.

Kate is still getting the hang of it and was more concerned with eating her first pick than filling up the box.

It doesn't matter if they pick one or twenty-one, these two always make our trip here fun.

We ended our day with a pretty nice haul -- and I'm not just talking about the apples!

Until next year, Linvilla!