We started out the month with pumpkin patch visit #1. Aubrey's class went on their first field trip to Lineberger's Farm in Dallas. I grew up 20-ish minutes from this place and never had the chance to visit it, so I was excited about going. Aubrey was more excited about getting to ride the school bus to the farm than being at the actual farm. I couldn't chaperone because I decided to bring Mason with me so we drove separately, which really upset Mason because he thought he was riding the bus, too. We got there a little before the buses so we explored the little market area of the farm and it was so neat. They had pumpkins and gourds galore along with some other locally grown produce. Once the buses got to the farm, we listened to one of the owner's tell the history of the farm and then she explained how pumpkins grow. After that, the kids got to spend time in their awesome play area before taking a tractor ride around the farm (which was Mason's absolute favorite part). The trip wrapped up with each kid (and me) selecting a pumpkin to take home. It was a fun trip and I hope to take the kids back to that farm again in the spring for strawberries.
About a week later we did our annual trip to Hodge's Farm for pumpkin patch #2. Linebarger's Farm is much more kid friendly, but we've been going to Hodge's since Aubrey was a baby so we had to go back. The kids enjoyed seeing the farm animals and walking around their huge pumpkin patch. We needed up with 3 more pumpkins from this trip, making our total pumpkin count in this house 6.
Unfortunately, my Great Uncle Bob died on October 21 and I knew I couldn't make it to the funeral, but I really wanted to pay my respects at the visitation. It was being held in Burlington, NC, which is a little less than 2 hours from home which meant I had to leave before Todd got home from work and the kids had to go with me. I hated the thought of taking them, but there really wasn't an option so I explained as gently as I could to Aubrey what would be happening. She seemed a little nervous about the whole thing, but handled herself well at the funeral home. Mason, on the other hand, was a complete wild child. I think everyone understood that he didn't know what was going on, but it still made it difficult to manage him. It was nice to be able to visit with some of my extended family because I haven't seen many of them since my grandfather died 4 years ago. However, it did make for a long night and we didn't get back home until close to 11:00 so the next morning was rough. Not an ideal situation, but I guess sometimes you just have to make the best of it.
We celebrated my birthday on the 26th, even though admitting I am getting older is not any easier year to year. It was still nice to celebrate and even better to eat some yummy Public cupcakes.
Aubrey's school decided they needed to keep Halloween somewhat "educational" so they decided the kids could dress up as book characters and have a parade around the school. There was no doubt Aubrey would be going as Pinkalicious. She was so excited to be able to wear so much pink to school.
The night before Halloween, we finally carved 3 of our pumpkins. I usually leave this task to Todd and the kids because they have so much fun with it. Todd did a great job carving and the pumpkins looked pretty cool sitting outside.
The grand finale of the month was Halloween. Back in the summer when I ordered the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costumes for the kids, Todd said we should all dress up as turtles for Halloween and I blew him off. I was not wearing a green unitard around our neighborhood. But, he got the kids all excited about it so I decided to play along and search for a decent costume. I managed to find a girl turtle outfit so I ordered the costumes and was ok until I tried it on. I guess this was supposed to be the "sexy" turtle costume (ridiculous that everything for females must be sexy) because this costume was shooorrrt. And I'm a short girl, so I can only imagine how short it was on taller ladies. I was able to to make it work with some leggings and the kids were thrilled when I walked downstairs in my get up. We did the obligatory pictures before making the round of the neighborhood. I walked for a bit with the kids before going back to the house to hand out candy. It was a little embarrassing to be dressed up and sitting all by myself on the porch so I was glad when the other 3 turtles of the house got back. The kids enjoyed handing out candy as much as they did receiving it so it was a good night all around.
Except for the sad news about my great uncle, October was a good month. Now its time to prepare for the holidays and I can't wait!
