Leaves, Pumpkins and Scarecrows--Oh my!

I love fall! I mean, if I could bundle fall up and keep it in my pocket all year long, I would. It's so beautiful around here. So beautiful, that I find myself driving around a little bit longer just so that we can witness this beauty as much as possible. To celebrate this season we got together with some great friends and headed off to the Children's Farm down the street.

Bella and Lili smilin' pretty for the camera



And then there's Mia, who's still trying to understand the concept of smiling. In the meantime, this frown is Mia's "go-to" look whenever a camera is on her.



The girls spent the afternoon watching, brushing and laughing at various farm animals. They had a ball whereas I felt the need to shower in antibacterial lotion the entire time.











After having fun with the barn animals we hopped on a hayride bound for the pumpkin patch. Sometime between the hayride and the pumpkin patch the temperature dropped like ten degrees. So, the first pumpkin we spotted was the one we took home. Okay I lied. It was the second pumpkin we chose. The first pumpkin rolled down the hill and ran over Mia. She didn't like that one.

Here's Mia, not convincingly, attempting a smile



We all had a great afternoon--which was followed by an amazing four course dinner, thanks to Eugene. Man my husband can cook! Tiffany and Chad, thanks for an awesome family outing, it was a perfect day.



So I promised the girls we would make a scarecrow for our yard. Mistake #1. Never promise a 3 year old. They ALWAYS remember.

After stuffing an old pair of pants and a stretched out Old Navy thermal shirt (I swear all of their clothes are made out of tissue paper--awful) we threw a tattered hawaiian shirt over our scarecrow and buttoned her up. I say "her" because Bella named her Stiffanie. Hubbawuzza? Stiffanie? I said to Bella "you meant to say Stephanie, right?" "Nope. Stiffanie" said Bella. I asked again, "then you must have meant to say Tiffany, right?" "Nope. STIFFANIE" argued Bella.

I chuckled under my breath cuz, really?, that's the worst name ever! But, whatev, I'll go with it. Trying my best to get this godforsaken scarecrow completed-- Bella, Mia and I drew a face on an old tshirt and stuffed it too. Voila, we had our Stiffanie. We took her outside complete with a clown wig and a homemade tutu (because that's what the 3 year old boss wanted) and made her comfortable. Please take note of how cute her face looks--the scarecrow, not Mia. But kudos to you Mia for actually smiling.



Since the girls were in such a good mood, Eugene took the liberty of snapping away. I laugh at these photos because you can tell the type of "back and forth" interaction that goes on between the two of them. It's hilarious.













Somebody please get this girl a drink--she's way too serious!!!



EPILOGUE

Mistake #2 (which if you recall followed mistake #1 which was promising to make the damn scarecrow in the first place) was using WASHABLE MARKERS to draw Stiffanie's face. WASHABLE--what kind of idiot uses WASHABLE markers to make a scarecrow? This idiot does!

And then it rained.