Fall in a Flash
A month has passed us by and with it, fall too, apparently. It LOOKS like fall out there, but it has felt more like December. Nevertheless, we have been busy with all things apple, pumpkin, sweaters, and soups. We hit the apple orchard in mid-September, on a day that turned out to be warm and lovely. Lily wasted no time getting the hang of apple picking, and she was completely undiscerning when it came to which apples went in the bag — ones with worm holes, ones with rotten spots, ones off the ground. I had to run along behind her, weeding out the undesireables. I made an apple pie, and Bill made a couple of apple crisps with the bounty.
By the time we were planning a pumpkin patch trip in October, it was hard to find a weekend to go that wasn’t rainy and blustery. Lily went on her first class field trip, to Red Barn Farm in Weston, and of course it was my first day covering a temporary school district job, so I couldn’t go. Bill accompanied Lil, and they both had a good time, judging by the stories and souvenirs they brought home. Here’s a pic of Lily and her friend Camryn, and a failed attempt at a class photo (note, it is our daughter who can’t be bothered to sit still for eight seconds for a photo):
We carved pumpkins two weeks ago, never dreaming they would last until Halloween, but our neighbors invited us to carve with them, so we got that experience out of the way early. (For some reason, this is one Halloween tradition I wouldn’t mind skipping, but you know — have to do it for the kiddo!) And our jack-o-lanterns are still hanging in there! Probably because it has been so stinkin’ cold, they are well preserved out there. (I learned a couple of new tips while at the pumkin patch: wipe the outside of the pumpkin down with bleach water before carving and, after carving, smear Vaseline on the carved surfaces to help preserve.)
And, because it didn’t look like we were going to get many nice sunny days this October, I loaded Lily up on a Monday and headed out to the Red Barn Farm and pumpkin patch, for our annual obligatory pumpkin photos. I was sad that we couldn’t manage to find a good weekend day, so that the whole family could go, but Lily and I had a nice time on a (rare) beautiful fall day.
In early October, my friend Sara with Photogazelle Photography came to our home for a family portrait shoot and a few maternity photos. She got some fantastic shots, depsite Lily’s lack of nap and subsequent lack of cooperation. She is in a phase right now (has been for a while) where she refuses to look at any camera within her range. It is terribly frustrating for me (lots of begging and bribing involved), but Sara seems to take it all in stride. Probably because she has TWO toddlers at home, so it’s old news for her. I had a bunch of favorites from the shoot, and I’ve posted a lot of them on Facebook already. So here are a few more faves:
Whew! It’s hard to play catch-up after a month off from blogging. Let this be a lesson to me, I guess. I have more news to report, on the “big girl” front, but it will have to wait. I’ve already used almost all of Lily’s naptime to get this post written! Happy fall, whatever the weather!