Halloween 2012!

Halloween festivities began the weekend before, when Aunt Marie was here.  She enlisted Mary to help her make sugar cookie dough, and then David and Mary together decorated the cookies.  

Daddy and Aunt Marie took the kids to Sutter's Ridge for some pretty fall views and pumpkin picking.

Then the pumpkins had to be carved, of course.

The kids dressed up for the church Fall Festival, where they got their first haul of candy from the Trunk-or-Treat.

This year Mary chose to be cheerleader (one "for Bucky Badger"), and David wanted to be a Stealth Ninja.

On Halloween Greg took the kids trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. I stayed home to pass out candy.

Greg reported that Mary was a super trooper, skipping from house to house.

 Love these sweet kids!  (Who brought home lots and lots of sweets.)

Pumpkin pictures

You can't escape it . . . It's that time of year again . . . Pictures of my kids and pumpkins!

We returned this year to Sutter's Ridge (my favorite fall farm ever).  The kids had a marvelous time.  It's beautiful, friendly, fun, and low-key.  I mentioned it's beautiful, right? You can't help but feel lucky to live in Wisconsin when you're there.  I was soaking in the feeling--because I'm sure I won't feel that way come November . . . and December . . . and January . . . and February . . . and March . . . and even April . . . and now I'm depressed . . . so let's look at pictures!!

Ah, I feel much better now.  Cute kids and pumpkins, quite the panacea.

Happy middle of October!

Sutter's Ridge

It's autumn! So you know what that means: More pictures than you ever wanted to see of my kids with pumpkins!

Yesterday provided the perfect opportunity to take said pictures. We visited Sutter's Ridge. Before I show you the pictures, let me say that there is no doubt that we live in an agricultural state. There are dozens of farms in the area that open their gates in the fall for apple picking, pumpkin patches, hay rides, corn mazes, and all manner of fall festival fun. There are only so many autumn weekends...so how does one go about choosing the farms that will fill those few Saturdays? I don't know. All I know is that we (I) picked Sutter's Ridge on a whim, and I think we hit the jackpot on our first try.

It was lovely and small and friendly. There were plenty of activities for children, but nary a bouncy house or a single tube of face paint: it was tasteful and without that circus-like atmosphere. (Don't get me wrong--we love a good bouncy house in this family. But sometimes it's nice to do something "family friendly" that doesn't involve large inflatable objects.) There was a real pumpkin patch, where you choose your pumpkins right off the vine. Bonus: the pumpkins were beautiful and very affordable. The homemade treats for sale in the cozy wood-stove heated cabin were delicious. The farm is situated on a ridge, so the autumn views were gorgeous. We had a grand time!

Here are the pictures.

I bet my 6'4" husband loved being dragged through the covered children's maze.

Mary enjoyed counting the pumpkins.

Mary discovered that when she doesn't have a binkie, she can use her thumb. (Great, just what we need.)

David loves a good hay ride.

Decisions, decisions...

Found it! The perfect pumpkin.

Mary found hers too.

David posing on the trailer with the pumpkin family we would be bringing home...

An apple carmel sundae. Yum!

Mary is one thorough girl. She meticulously ate all of the cream cheese frosting off of her pumpkin bar.

Everyone loves a giant pile of hay bales!

I love these two.

Happy Fall!