Post-Halloween

The festivities are now over, but the decorations are still up and costume parts are probably still scattered around. I know for sure that the treat bags are still filled to the brim with candy and toys. We were lucky enough to enjoy Trick-or-Treating with 3 of our grandchildren this year. Ron and his oldest son, Terry, came home from their annual hunting trip to join us before heading back out into the woods.

After preschool, Callie and the boys met Jaylynn, Archer and me at the duck pond to burn off a little excess energy. We let them wear their costumes, hoping to get a few pictures of them as well. (We have to be kind of sneaky about photos these days since they generally do not want to pose for us.)

We played for a while. . . a dinosaur, pumpkin and baby cat.

Then, headed down to the water to feed the ducks my leftover hot dog buns.

BabyD2 was totally enchanted by the ducks and geese and chased them all over the place, hoping to hold one. Callie narrowly saved him from the water at least three times.

At some point, he also realized that we had snuck a tail onto his costume and he wasn't exactly thrilled about that.

Toddler D, however was ALL ABOUT HALLOWEEN this year.

We trick-or-treated at the Norton Art Gallery (before the crowds got too bad, I might add)

Then the parents took the kids to houses on our block, while Ron and I joined the neighbors around the annual Halloween Fire Pit, where we pass out massive amounts of sugar to kids that stop by.

It was such fun to get to experience Halloween through the eyes of these three little goblins!

Pumpking Picking

Even though October is almost over, the pumpkin picking continues. Our first adventure in a pumpkin patch this year occurred in the middle of the month, at the Dixie Corn Maze. On the way out there, we stopped in a nearby cotton field so that Toddler could see how cotton grows.

Once we arrived, he had fun with some crafts and then the outdoor fun began.

There were chickens to talk to,

pig races (which were hysterical, by the way)

and a pony to ride.

There was even a cow train!!  How cool is that!

While the real pony was fun, I think he had just as much (if not more) fun riding the sawhorse and roping the cow.

Everyone thought that was pretty fun!

We rode out to the pumpkin fields to pick out the perfect pumpkin.

As it turns out ToddlerD is quite picky about his pumpkins. "It needs to be little so I can carry it." "It needs to be smooth." "It needs to be all orange; no yellow or green on it."

And did I mention how tricky it is to walk in a pumpkin patch!

There was a beautiful field of zinnias, too, that we were allowed to cut flowers from. I loved that!

(Hay is kind of prickly on bare legs.)

Last, but certainly not least, was the corn maze itself! We wandered through the trails with ToddlerD leading the way most of the time---until it was time to actually find our way out, that is. We let Papaw take over at that point.

What a fun Sunday afternoon!