The great pumpkin fail

My mind has been running a thousand and one miles an hour for the past few weeks.  My next post will certainly be written with all my heart but this one has been in the works for weeks so for now, lighthearted fall fun.

Not exactly the fall I had envisioned.  The weather has been cold, bitter even at times.  We've had more rain this fall then I remember getting all summer so with that said we didn't go out and do everything I had wanted but we managed to make the best of what we did and here's just a few of the highlights.

1. Fall leaf hunts.  We did this multiple times but our favorite was when Daddy came and the colors were at there best.  We walked along the skinny deer trails and some of my absolute favorite pictures came out of this "hunt".  We gathered up all kinds of leaves and when we got home Riley sorted first by color then by size.  Great and easy little lesson and one you can only do for a short time here in MN!

2. Trunk or treating.  Church always does the best trunk or treating and this year was especially fun since the times changed a bit so it wasn't in the dark.  Riley wasn't nearly as scared as he was in the dark the last few years and our little Lu even dressed up and came along.  She didn't really understand not eating everything as she got it but eventually we persuaded her to keep moving along.  Our faves include yet again the glow sticks...nothing betta than a glow stick for Moms and kids!  No sugar but all the fun!

3.  The farm.  Oh we love this farm.  It's so serene and peaceful.  The peacocks and a few pigs, goats and chickens just roam around and the pumpkins are always in perfect display patterns with varying colors from orange, white, green and yellow.  We enjoyed the peaceful hay ride and we stalked the peacocks pleading with them to spread their tail feathers.  It didn't happen but we did take two of those pretty feathers home with us!

4.  Trick or treating.  Riley was all ready to go this year.  He was the seasoned pro to Alyssa's fumbling always a few steps behind.  The kids did great and in the 10-15 houses we hit we have more than enough candy to carry us well into 2013!  Eek, 2013!  The weather was mild and we made it home by 7:15 so we could pass out candy too!  It was kind of cute when we decided to dress up Alyssa as a chicken for warmth and debated about having her use her Toto basket.  Riley suggested putting her kitchen eggs in the basket since she was a chicken and we went with it.  Later on FB someone hilariously pointed out whether or not there was a CR shortage on halloween buckets.  Haha, a little redneck trick or treating with a target bag and an Easter style basket! ; )

5.  Snuggles, lots and lots of snuggles since I haven't worked a full week for the past 3 weeks we have been enjoying eachother, a lot!

What happened to my baby boy?  And this was last years school picture!  

Both kids surprised me in bed at 5 a.m. and started fighting about touching eachother, I came back from the bathroom and discovered this.  They decided holding hands would solve the problem.  So much for a california king being big enough for 2 littles and a mama smooshed against the edge!  

It was a great fall but with us being gone for the Light up the Night parade and then missing the Grand Day parade (Anoka is the halloween capitol! ; ) I feel a bit disappointed in our activity check list but we made the best of it and I think our kids will be happy to look back and see a few pictures of 2012.