Fall Time FUN

Let The Fall Festivities Begin

I'm sure this will be one of MANY fall posts over the next few months. Granted, having two under two makes blogging time difficult, so we'll see how many fall posts I'll actually get to do. I assume the activities will get jumbled into one massive post, kind of like this one. Between coming back from maternity leave, getting caught up on work I missed for 6 weeks, the fiasco that was Hurricane Joaquin and major tidal flooding, and regular "mom duties," I never really got a breather to stop and enjoy that fall was finally here! But now that the weather has calmed down and I'm sort of finding my routine (definitely not caught up on work though), I can finally take a moment to look around me and notice that the air is crisper, the trees are orange, I've changed the Scentsy from lemonade to pumpkin, football is back on, and I'm wearing Ugg boots not flip flops. 

That immediately got me to work! I pulled out the box of fall themed décor from the garage and as soon as the house looked like a pumpkin tornado when through it, I started to get in the pumpkin spirit. Our coffee witched to pumpkin spice from Dunkin, I made pumpkin and banana bread, and it won't be long before I've got some chili cookin' on the stove and corn bread in the oven.

Last year I did some fun fall themed photo shoots with JB. Tater Tot is significantly younger for this time of year so I don't think I can pull of the baby in a pumpkin look. But that's not going to stop me! I did our first of a few photo sessions. He's too young for a pumpkin but he's the perfect size for a crate surrounded by pumpkins! Oh, and guess who has a crate in the craft room. :) "Unfortunately" JBs Halloween themed clothes are too big for TT so that means I have to shop for new themed outfits (aww shucks, NOT REALLY!). I found the cutest striped onesie at Target and pulled out JBs old pumpkin hat. Yeah, I'm on the pumpkin bandwagon and I’m not getting off!

We also made a quick trip to the pumpkin patch down the street. Next weekend we'll to the BIG pumpkin patch across the bridge in Chesapeake but I didn't want to wait that long. I had to get my pumpkin patch fix ASAP. It's next to a little playground and JB was more interested in the playground than the pumpkin patch.  When he did notice the pumpkins, he picked up the ones he could and threw them! Oh this boy....he is definitely all boy. This little outing was just another reminder of how big my little man is getting. We've taken him to a park a few times but it's just been so hot and muggy here in Virginia and he never took a real interest. This time though, he was all about climbing up the jungle gym and going down the slide, rinse and repeat, over and over and over and over again. When he got off the slide, he would run back to the steps eager to do it again. While running though, he'd wave his arms in the air in big huge circles, smiling and laughing. I can't even describe the joy I feel when I see my little guys enjoying life. There's seriously no better feeling!

I took the pumpkins we bought, put their hand prints on them, wrote their names, and now they're proudly on display in the house. Keeping JB from picking them up and throwing this is a whole different battle but, I'm willing to fight it. Kid needs to learn his boundaries and he's very happy to test them, so I'm happy to show him. I still have a few more activities lined up before we head into the CHRISTMAS theme. We still need to go to the petting zoo/pumpkin patch, trick or treating of course! (luckily my squadron is hosting a trunk or treat), and go to a park for a family photo session in the vibrant fall foliage, not to mention our family photo shoot in mid November with a professional photographer that I'm so excited for!  This time of year was fun BEFORE I had kids, but now that I have kiddos, and TWO of them, it's going to be double the fun, double the mess, double the craziness, double the memories.