It's safe to say blogging has fallen by the wayside this year. Maybe one of these days I'll do a Day in the Life post and it will be pretty clear why, but for now I'm happily living that chauffeur mom life and it's a wonderfully busy season to be in.
Still, I couldn't let Halloween pass without a little mention about all the fun stuff we've been up to. We L O V E October around here, and Ez was still asking to go back to the pumpkin patch all the way through March, so you better believe we jumped right in as soon as we could this year - as in, September.
Yep, we hit up our first pumpkin patch during the last week of September, and even though we were a little bit disappointed by the corn maze, which was Ezra-sized, we were still so, SO excited for the hay ride and our first (of what would be MANY) pumpkins. It really was the best day ever. There's such a cozy feeling when the first holiday festivities kick off, even if the temps are still mid 80s.
After that we visited five more pumpkin patches (some of them more than once). We got lost in corn mazes, some how adopted thirty pumpkins, carved five of them into Jack O'lanterns, swam in seas of corn kernels, rode the bumpiest of hayrides, and even rolled around in these giant hamster wheel thing-a-majigs. We brought the grandparents along for the fun, and we all went with Ez on his class field trip to a pumpkin patch. Ez picked our costumes and we went as the Muppet Babies (and Miss Nanny), except for Declan, who decided on Ez's old Maui costume at the last minute. And, to cap it all off, we had the best trick or treating night EVER and got enough candy to last until Halloween next year.
If you ever stop to do the math on how many truly magical holidays you get with kids it's a little depressing, so we don't take it for granted at all that we're at this wonderful point in our lives where the holidays just keep getting better and better. Here's a little recap in everyone else's words:
Ezra's favorite part of October was carving jack O'lanterns and eating Halloween candy.
Decky liked the hayrides and bounce floor best and blowing out the Jack O'lantern candles best.
Joe liked Ez and Declan's extreme enthusiasm for trick or treating this year. Last year we started off strong but Ez was so excited he face-planted and things went downhill from there. This year was basically maximum excitement from beginning to end and it was one of those heart so full it could burst parenting moments.
And my personal favorite was getting one pumpkin patch trip with two sets of grandparents. It's such a special time of year and we're so lucky Joe's mom was able to join in on the fun this year.
Other notable mentions of the year include trick or treating at Funderland the weekend before Halloween. It was our first time there, and it was basically like a much smaller, cheaper version of Fantasyland at Disneyland. The kids were SO happy running from ride to ride and collecting their treats. We made some Halloween sugar cookies, and, as always, the sprinkles were the biggest hit ever. Ez has suddenly become Decky's bff, and he was determined to guide Decky through the corn mazes hand in hand - no matter how much Decky protested. It was basically the cutest thing ever and will be imprinted in my memories forever.
Now that Halloween is over we're currently enjoying all the brand new chocolate bribes at our disposal, fiery red fall foliage, and the promise of Christmas right around the corner. Wishing you all the coziest, loveliest, most magical last two months of the year.
