When I was little, summer was my favorite season. Why you ask? Because I loved being out of school and going to the beach all the time. As I got older, I began to love spring – something about flowers blooming, grass turning green, new life springing forth, and warmer weather. Well, friends, I think my preferences are changing once again. I now LOVE fall. The cooler weather, the leaves changing color, all things pumpkin, fall decorations and activities, and the excitement building because Thanksgiving and Christmas are on their way.
This past week, we participated in quite a few fall activities.
Fun on the Farm and Hayride – A sweet family in our church has a farm and invited the whole church out to enjoy it by eating delicious food, going on a hayride, playing on the playground, seeing the animals, and playing games. The girls have a blast every time we go and this time was no exception. Here they are enjoying the horse tire swing and going on a hayride (one of their first ever I think!).
Trunk or Treat with our neighbor’s local church – Our neighbor’s attend a church near us (actually where Kinsley goes to preschool) and invited us to go with them to do Trunk or Treat. It was so much fun seeing the kids dressed up, looking at the different Trunk decorations, and of course, getting candy! Most creative costume goes to the family who all dressed up as different characters from the movie “Jaws”…from Jaws himself, to the girl who had an arm missing and blood all over her outfit, to the boy who had blood on him and half of his life raft missing, etc. Kinda grotesque, especially at a kid’s event, but so very creative. Best trunk goes to the people who had a car labeled Student Driver and had “dead bodies” hanging over the top of the car and under the car, including a real kid laying under part of the car. Again, kinda grotesque, but added much needed humor and uniqueness among the Elsa’s and Anna’s.
Naylor Farm/Corn Maze Field Trip with Kinsley’s preschool class – My parents came into town to visit us and kept Emerson for the morning so I could join Kinsley’s class on their field trip. It was so fun seeing the kids get excited about the hayride, feeding the animals (check out the picture below of Kinsley getting to feed a bottle to the calf they rescued), playing on the huge playground, jumping in the corn box, navigating the corn maze, and eating lunch (probably their favorite part judging by how many times they asked to eat). I also loved getting to meet the other kids and their parents.
The hayride was rather eventful. They warned us that there were things that flew during the ride and to let them know if the kids would get scared so they could avoid it. Kinsley does get super scared with every little thing, but I didn’t think it would be a big deal. Um, it was a big deal, especially when the witch flew right into us and the spider came down almost on top of her head. On the ride back, the little boy sitting across from her kept looking at her. His mom, who was sitting beside me, told me that he had just said to her “Mom, she is so beautiful” and he kept staring at her. Kinsley was bashful and kept looking away because she had heard it all. Good thing her daddy wasn’t there 🙂
Puppet Show at our Community Center – My parents and I took the girls to a free puppet show about Halloween hosted by our community center. To say it was packed with kids is an understatement. We made a mistake by not packing a snack at a time when they would get hungry and getting there late, which left us sitting in the back. Kinsley did okay with the exception of asking over and over when it would be done but Emerson was all over the place. I thought it was a disaster and never planned on going to another one. Kinsley, however, listed it as the thing she was thankful for that day and kept talking about. Not sure what changed – ah, the fickleness of 4 year olds.
Halloween – On Halloween, we had brunch and games with our staff team, and then loaded the girls up to go trick-or-treat downtown with some friends (the local businesses all give away candy – love the perks of a small town!). They had a blast, especially once we got past Emerson taking out every piece of candy that got put in her basket and wanting to eat it right then.
Then, that evening, we went trick-or-treating with a bunch of our neighbors in our neighborhood. It was great to meet more people in our neighborhood and the girls literally trick-or-treated until they dropped (and us too!). Kinsley was a snow princess (she loved the all white dress, all the sparkle, and the hoop at the bottom that made her skirt sway) and Emerson was a fairy. Man, having two kids who can trick-or-treat definitely increases the candy haul. We have candy flowing out our ears!
And how could I forget pumpkin carving! Ed and Kinsley (mostly Ed) carved an Elsa pumpkin and a Statue of Liberty pumpkin (both designs picked by Kinsley). I am not sure what happened to the pictures of them, but trust me, they looked great for the few days they lasted!