The End of the Fall-idays

2020 is most certainly a challenging year, but we had one of our best Thanksgiving breaks ever! I know it's contradictive, but this is the most relaxed AND productive I have felt in months. We spent 4 great days together as a family, and I'm not even bummed about it coming to an end on Tuesday morning, because we are all so excited to celebrate the Christmas season together!

Despite being an unprecidented year full of things we never expected to face, this year went surprisingly fast. Spring in quarantine quickly turned into a Summer at home, then my kids went back to school, cheerleading/football began, and Fall arrived. The busyness of (somewhat but not really) normal life took over, and before we knew it, Halloween passed and November was here. 

Before moving on to all things Christmas, I wanted to share my last Fall post. I figured it was easiest to lump the rest of the Fall-idays together. Here are the pictures from our annual trip to the pumpkin patch, and the quickest Thanksgiving recap ever!

A Week In The Life - Halloween Edition

For as crappy as 2020 has been, it has gone by surprisingly fast! It's hard to believe that October is already over, and we're in the midst of the holiday season. I absolutely love this time of year, and I'm not going to let the pandemic stop me from enjoying it!

We filled the last week of October with some fun Halloween activities. We went to the pumpkin farm (post coming), carved pumpkins, went Trick or Treating with friends, and went to a small party. A few of our regular traditions had to be canceled, but I'm very thankful for a fairly normal Halloween week!

Now that Halloween is behind us, we're focusing on Dylan's 16th Birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. November is going by so fast! We're just trying to slow down enough to fully enjoy the holiday season!

Pumpkins Pumpkins Everywhere

Happy Halloween!

We had a really busy weekend full of Halloween fun! Time was running out and we still had so much to do so we crammed in every pumpkin activity we possibly could. Although it was busy (and exhausting), we had so much fun!

We kicked off the Halloween festivities on Friday! Lexie had her Halloween Party at school and I organized the party and volunteered. I always love to get a glimpse of my kids at school. It's just such a big part of their lives that I'm not a part of so any insight is welcome! The party was a success and Lexie and her classmates had a great time!

As soon as the party ended, we rushed to pick up Dylan, Lily and Liam and we made the 45 minute drive to Grant's office.  The company he works for was having a Trick or Treat event for all their kids. I didn't take any pictures but somebody took one of Grant with the kids.  

It was a lot of fun! Dylan helped Grant's coworkers hand out candy while Grant and I took our other three kiddos trick or treating on all three floors of his company. By the time we left, their bags were literally overflowing with candy. I joked that after that there really is no need to go trick or treating again but that idea got shot down!

On Saturday afternoon, Lexie, Lily, Liam and I headed to the library pumpkin patch. They got to "pick" pumpkins out of the patch, paint the pumpkins, then decorate sugar cookies. 

 

 

By the time we left, they were covered in paint and icing and required a complete clothing change!

We met up with Grant and Dylan and headed to a nearby pumpkin patch for our yearly hayride, corn maze and pumpkin picking tradition!

This was the latest we have ever gone to the pumpkin patch and it turned out to be an amazing afternoon. It was a perfect 75 degrees, it was sunny and we arrived just before dinner time so we didn't have to wait in line for anything. I think we discovered a new time to go!

 

 

 

By the time we left with our perfect pumpkin, we were all covered in mud, but it was our favorite trip to the pumpkin patch to date!

Late Saturday evening, Lexie, Liam and I made the trek into Downtown Pittsburgh to meet some online friends who were in town. Shortly after Liam was born, I was connected to the Down Syndrome Diagnosis Network and added to a few Rockin' Mom Facebook groups. I was unbelievably grateful for the support I received when I was still feeling lost and overwhelmed. 

The DSDN community is absolutely amazing! The DSDN has been a part of my daily life for over 3 years and I have met some incredible moms. I eventually started volunteering my time as an admin for a new Rockin' Moms group then made the switch to running their Instagram. The time I spend volunteering and interacting each day is such a positive experience and I rely on my fellow Rockin' Moms. 

When the Vice President of the DSDN told me that she and another board member would be promoting the DSDN at a medical conference in Pittsburgh this weekend I knew I had to meet them. We went into the city at 10 pm and crashed their pajama party in their hotel room! Although our visit was short, it was so awesome to finally meet them!

 

We wrapped up our weekend of Halloween fun by carving our pumpkin! We didn't have much time so Grant just did a traditional Jack O' Lantern face. Sometimes the simplest things turn out to be a hit!

We had so much fun gearing up for Halloween over the weekend! My family is excited for a day full of Halloween fun and we're wishing you and yours a happy and safe Halloween!

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A Rainy Day at the Pumpkin Patch

Halloween just isn't complete without a trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

As usual, our October was SO busy that our pumpkin patch trip had to wait until the last weekend before Halloween.  The weather was looking very questionable on Saturday afternoon, but we decided to take a chance.  It was supposed to rain a lot that evening, and we really didn't want to deal with all the mud the following day.

Of course it started drizzling JUST as we turned into the parking lot! Thankfully, the weather kept most of the crowd away from the farm. Instead of our usual wait in line for the wagon ride up to the pumpkin patch, we were able to board immediately!

It was a very bumpy ride up to the pumpkin patch.  As soon as we arrived, the kids took off for the corn maze.  We couldn't even keep up with them!

As we were finding our way through the corn maze, it started to rain even harder.  We rounded up the kids and hurried to find the perfect family pumpkin!

It may have been raining, but we still had fun!

I say it all the time, but it absolutely amazes me how quickly kids grow.  Last year, Liam was only crawling through the pumpkin patch.  This year, he ran all over the place!

 

By the time we found our pumpkin, it was pouring.  Liam LOVED the rain and laughed his way through it.  His zest for life is truly contagious. Getting stuck in the rain can make people very unhappy, but everybody in the pumpkin patch was laughing along with him!

We had a bit of a wait before the wagon returned.  Really, it was just a few minutes, but we got soaked! That being said, I was REALLY happy to climb aboard and head out of the pumpkin patch!

Before we left, the kids wanted to play in the straw barn.  I swear, I'm going to just fill my backyard with bales of straw.  They love it!

Despite the rain, we had a successful trip to the pumpkin patch!  The kids had fun, and we didn't have to deal with a crowd.  The trickiest part was trying to keep my camera dry and take pictures in the rain! Next time?  I'll remember the raincoats and umbrellas if rain is in the forecast!

Going to the pumpkin patch is my favorite Fall tradition!  This year, the rain just made it a bit more memorable!

 

Have you visited the pumpkin patch this year?

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Linking up with Courtney for the Countdown to Halloween Blog Hop!