Fall Colors and Pumpkins

We've had some fun fall activities and outings recently.

This is only first because it was the order my pictures were in, and it's not really fall related.  It was a great activity, though!  I pulled out our (very out of tune) Music Maker one day.  We'd been to a string quartet concert the day before, and the kids were fascinated with the music and the instruments.  So I thought we could make our own string music.  They loved it even though I couldn't tune it.

I finally pulled out my camera to capture some of the fall colors.  All of these are views from my house.

Actually, I can't see the river from my house, but it's very near.  The rest are from my house.

We had a totally unguided activity in the backyard one day.  Some of it was play time, some was picture time, and most of it was discovery time.

This was the discovery.  I turned over our sandbox that we'd used as a wading pool this summer, and we discovered lots of worms.  These two spent most of the time examining, and then gently trying to move the worms to where they could find better mud.  They had all sorts of questions about worms.

This little guy was cracking me up.  I love his sweet face.

He kept making this face over and over whenever he thought I was going to take a picture.

Another day we had a field trip to a pumpkin farm. 

Checking out the honeybees.

A little climbing.

Alex enjoyed the little games they had out.

Annie and Logan really enjoyed choosing their favorite pumpkins.  These pumpkins were on a hill, and Alex created a new game: pumpkin rolling.  He thought he was hilarious.

We discovered a John Deere tractor!  (When it pays the bills, you quickly become a big fan!)

My friend, Jamie, came with us.

The pumpkins there were much more expensive than the ones at the grocery store, so we only bought this small white one.  Then we bought a bigger one from the store.  Annie wanted Snow White on "her" pumpkin.  So I printed a picture of her, and meticulously drew her onto it.  This was no easy task!  I have never been much of an artist, so I was very pleased.

After the effort I put into the drawing, I came to realize that this was really my pumpkin.  I just couldn't let it go.  So, yes, I painted it.  Annie was happy to blow dry each color as I washed my brush, though. 

Then, I let her help paint after I assured Snow White was as perfect as I could make her.  She was thrilled for the whole process, so maybe it wasn't so bad that I took over.

Ta da!  This is easily the masterpiece of my life so far.  It sure is a shame that I put it on a rotting pumpkin!

We did "Logan's" pumpkin second.  They helped scoop out the guts.

Then I carved it.  I just couldn't bring myself to give Logan a knife, plus he'd picked a pattern that definitely required an adult.  So I guess this was actually my pumpkin too.  Next year, we need to get a pumpkin for each of the kids and one specifically for me.  Then I need to give them the paint and not touch theirs.  Lesson learned.

After carving the pumpkins, but not the same day (same day as the worms, though) we cooked and pureed part of our pumpkin remnants.  Then we made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  They were delicious!  I think I have a new favorite treat.

Alex surprised me by getting sleepy while we were cooking.  I guess all that fresh air wore him out.

We finished the batter, tasted it, and put them in the oven.

Meanwhile, Alex took a nap.