It's Fall Y'all!

 Last weekend, we headed just north to Wilson, NC to visit Dean's Farm for their Fall Festival. It was still very hot outside and didn't feel very fall-like, but we were determined to get out and have a good time. Before the farm, we stopped an ate at Carolina Cheese Co. for lunch, and we all agreed that it was very good (especially their homemade chips), and we hope to go back!

Claire was excited to have her face painted (a cat!) right away, while brother preferred to sit and listen to the live music.

Already hot and a little grumpy, both kids let me take pictures to document "how tall this fall."

Next, it was time for a few easy games. A nice person gave us some of their extra tickets, and we were able to split them up evenly between the kids and call it good.

 They traded in the tokens earned in the games for small treats/prizes. It was quite a decision for them, but we finally coaxed them to finish up by announcing it was time to pick out their pumpkins.

Though this was not quite the usual pumpkin patch set up, we appreciated the lack of dirt that this option provided. I quickly realized that the pumpkins were pretty expensive, so they were just allowed to each pick out a little one. The big ones, we'd buy later (for less than half the price) at Walmart...sorry small businesses. 

As soon as we got home, the kids wanted to get to work in painting their pumpkins. They were both very creative and super proud to display them on the porch. Sadly, the rainy weather the following few days caused the (washable) paint to smear and come off...bad mom. We made them feel better by saying that this way we just get to have even more fun by being able to paint them again. :) I am so ready for the cooler weather, apple cider, fireplace, etc...