The Great Pumpkin

We experienced it. The first weekend in October. The reality that summer is probably not coming back for several months, the start of stuffy noses, the leaves out the back window that are no longer green and the request to find a pumpkin at 6 am.

I knew that it was going to be an exciting Saturday.

My husband opted out of the pumpkin experience as he had a fall chore list a mile long and a pressure washer in his hand. So late in the afternoon after 75 requests all three children got in the car and we ventured out to find a pumpkin. A simple thing really.

Somehow I had a feeling that the experience would not end well with a five, three and eighteen-month old so I did not even pack a camera. Big mistake. I turned into a pumpkin patch at a local farm. There were several barns full of pumpkins but only one pig pen and one pile of mud.

The owners of the farm saw my distress at manuvering three kids and their pumpkins and decided to help out. This is about the time that the eighteen month old ran around the front of the car. I screamed and he fell in the mud/questionable substance.

"Do you have wipes?" I was asked. No I didn't and I don't think any amount of wipes in this world could have helped me with that one.

We are still on the search for the great pumpkin. My five year old son has made that clear.

Other stories that top the list for this past weekend:
Graham crackers in the toliet
A train derailment as a result of Hurricane 18-Month Old
A soccer game of 5 year old boys trying to figure out which way the goal is
A nice but loud family dinner where my husband noted..."It only gets easier from here."

I am looking forward to a shopping trip with my daughter, mom, sisters and niece this weekend.

She has quite the style sense at three years old. I have also never had a weekend just for us. So if the stars align we shall shop, eat and enjoy one of my most favorite weekends of the year in Galena, IL at their Fall Festival:
http://www.enjoyillinois.com/getaway/viewGetaway.aspx?gta=124&etb=3

And below is a picture from this weekend of the hurricane...

The cute before the storm.

Dena