Pumpkin Patch

I think my girls like fall better than I do. While I love dressing for fall and seeing the beautiful trees, I can do without the cold. The girls seem to love the change in temperature - putting on their winter hats and cuddling up in blankets whenever we leave the house. This morning Emma had me wrap her up in a blanket until she was cocooned, like baby Jesus, she said. 

Eva's newest word is cozy, emphasis on the zzzz, and i'm positive that she couldn't get any cuter if she tried. 

The other weekend we made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Kid heaven, with overpriced pumpkins, bouncy houses and pony rides. Emma rode the pony waving and smiling, a far cry from last year when she embarrassedly covered her face with her hands the entire time.

This picture makes me laugh. She had to pee, I think.

Last year she decided at the last minute (after we paid and she was going to sit down) that she didn't want her face painted after all. This year she wanted her face painted and told the girl exactly what she wanted and confidently took her seat. Her shyness is dwindling.

Eva wanted to walk unassisted (re: nobody could touch her), and was pissed when we didn't let her ride the ponies or participate in the hula hoop contest. She is hard to bring places, because she doesn't like to be restrained in a cart or a stroller yet refuses to hold your hand when you let her down. Despite her sweet, sweet demeanor (have I mentioned how sweet she is?), she can have the most insane tantrums. They start out with short, shrill screams as she backs away from you, then she'll proceed to sit down and really start screaming (at this point if you walk towards her it gets way, way worse), and she'll eventually end up laying on the ground screaming until it gets out of her system. Sometimes it happens because you did something that made her mad, sometimes for reasons totally unbeknownst to me.

She didn't have a tantrum at the pumpkin patch, but we could also be a bit lack on her independent exploring.

We had fun, and Emma wants to go back like today right now because pony rides rock and there was a green faced witch oh my!

Our yard is covered in leaves. Covered. Emma looks out our window everyday to check their falling progress and begs to head outside. 

Crunching leaves don't happen everywhere, but they do here. It's like kid heaven, and fall with kids is a gazillion times better.

Joey gets out the leaf blower and blows the leaves into a huge pile. This last time the neighbor kids Stevie and Bella quickly ran over to join in on the fun. We were outside for hours.

With this week's heavy rain there are leaves everywhere in our yard. Emma took note and says this time she'll have the biggest pile ever.

This is Emma for hours. Literally, hours.

Em woke up the other night throwing up, but was ok in the morning. Now she has this wretched cough and no voice (like Ariel from The Little Mermaid, she says). I'm hoping it skips Eva (always hoping it skips the other) and that we can avoid a doctor visit.

We are heading out soon to pick up cousin Ella who is home for college and coming for a visit. We love when she comes and stays.

I have to go change Eva's diaper because she's trying to change it herself. She tells me every time she goes potty, and has started taking it off when she poo's. She's just shy of 18 months, isn't she too young to potty train? Emma wasn't trained until just before her third birthday. Eva has me stumped.

Let the weekend begin. Weekends are our favorite.