Fall Festivals and Halloween Prep

Just wanted to give y'all a preview of what you have in store this week.

But first you must sit through a couple of sickeningly sweet photos of kids in nature, as is our wont.

Our lantana is finally blooming after a really rough summer.

And it has attracted some visitors including this rogue monarch butterfly.

Milkweed, dude, you're supposed to only be eating milkweed!

Okay, so on to our pre-Halloween photos! Here's Aivy opening her Dora the Explorer costume. I felt kinda dirty buying her a plastic, over-the-counter version of Dora, but I found that at this age, it's what they really want. Stupid television. SIGH. She watches the show at daycare we guess.

So as long as Aivy was going to be Dora, we thought it appropriate that Calvin dress as Dora's monkey sidekick named Boots.

I think he looks more like a bear cub than a monkey...except for the attached banana. Again, this is another store-bought costume that I feel guilty about. Next year will be better, I promise.

We had a fantastic time in Elgin, Texas at this farmstead that hosts pumpkin-related activities and such.

Here we all are on the hayride heading out to the pumpkin hunt. It was kinda like an Easter egg hunt, only with those adorable mini-pumpkins.

Can't you just hear Lee Greenwood singing "Proud to be an American" in the background? Again, it's disgustingly cute, I know.

More treacle. Apparently pumpkins grow on trees in this part of Texas.

A cloying photo of a young girl hunting for pumpkins.

But then she puts the dog mask on and it's back down to more Aivy-like business.

Not sure if she's barking here or what.

What can I say? Girl likes dogs.

Woof.

We really liked giving the kids a chance to see real animals instead of just showing them pictures in books. I explained to them that they were like Curious George since he lives in the city but occasionally goes out to the country on the weekends. I think they kinda got it.

And Calvin absolutely loved the farm. His allergies were kickin', but so were mine. The whole family really had a blast.

The End.