Happy Fall Y'all

Well, it's fall in Texas. Not that you can tell. It's still 90+ degrees outside, the leaves on the trees are either green or dead, and most people still walk around in shorts. But, it's official, because the Great Hill Country Pumpkin Patch is open again.



We've taken Ainsley for the last few years, and it's wonderful. They've got pumpkin painting, a hay bale maze, a hay ride, face painting, a sing-a-long, scarecrow building, and a really cute band they call the Great Hill Country Symphony (think washtubs, spoons and kazoos).

Ainsley loves it, and this was Addison's first year.

It takes about 90 minutes to get there. Enough time for Addison to ruin her Halloween-ish outfit and have to be put in the backup outfit. Great.

Ainsley wanted to start off by painting a pumpkin. I rolled up her sleeves and kept praying "Don't tip the paint on your dress. Don't tip the paint on your dress."



Well, it seems all I really had to worry about was her wiping her paint-smeared hands on her dress to get the paint off her hands. Great. It's tempera paint and did come out, but jeez.



Next we made her pose for ONE good shot in the hay maze. She's still at the age where she'll do it without the obligatory "Mooooom."



She decided swishing her dress was necessary next. Thankfully she had pants on. Dress swishing isn't something I would take a picture of when she does it with her other dresses. Her teacher and I have talked to her about this...




Amazingly, she sat still for another "mom" picture in the pumpkins. Aww.



Here is Addison with the scarecrow. The scarecrow was a new addition this year and one Ainsley wasn't too sure about (hence, there are NO pictures of them together at the pumpkin patch). And, you can see Addison's non-Halloween getup here...nice.

Ainsley took a look at the goats and bunny rabbits at the petting zoo, but the big hit was the horse and baby chicks.



She agreed to touch it - and this is MUCH closer than she agreed to get last year. This worked out well until some other rugrat told her the horse was going to kick her. Have I mentioned how much I love other people's children?



Amazingly, she decided to hold a baby chick this year.



And even touch it. This was a huge improvement over last year when she practically threw it across the pen when it dared to move in her hands.

Overall, we had a great time. It's amazing how quickly the last few years have gone. It seems like just yesterday we were there taking this picture...