Fall List of Fun

It doesn't feel that long ago, but when I think back it was probably 8 or 9 years ago when my girlfriends and I would create a "Fall List of Fun" towards the end of summer. The list would be filled with all sorts of seasonal activities that we would check off as the season passed. Darrah and Heidi were roommates at the time so the list was always posted at their apartment (where we also had Girls Night each week). We actually created a list for each season, but eventually our lives became busier, and the lists went by the wayside.

Once you have a kid, I've realized it's necessary to have such a list for the family. Weekends can easily slip by and on Sunday night it feels like all you've done is passed the time. We've recently become much more proactive about this possibility and as a result have been having SO much more fun with our weekends. Like most other families, at the top of my Fall List of Fun was visiting a legit pumpkin patch. Last weekend we drove to Snohomish and picked out some pumpkins for our porch steps. Not pictured is this cute fence they'd erected with every size pot and pan hanging from it so the kids could use a spoon to bang on them. Edie chose instead to use the spoon to pop the bubbles spewing from the bubble machine.


Our ride on the covered hay wagon. Edie loved it.

This is her "Woah" face.
Then we realized the wagon was taking us to visit this pumpkin cannon. We thought Edie would love this - what a pleasant surprise! Our girl loves excitement, right? Not so much. She turned into a weeping mess when this thing exploded and sent a pumpkin flying into the atmosphere. And then our friendly, red nosed-alcoholic driver proceeded to fire off like 10 more pumpkins while Edie wailed.
But she recovered. And rode this horse. This is her fierce face.
Then we got down to business. The business of picking out pumpkins.
But by then Edie was worn out.
Our loot.
One quasi-tradition that the girls and I have carried on is our Fall Dinner Party. Tomorrow we continue this tradition and I think I'm going to try my hand at some butternut squash and apple turnovers with smokey gouda and thyme in them. Then on Sunday we get to drive to Vancouver to meet Edie's newest cousin - Otis Benjamin (Obie)!