fall happenings...

we love fall! the leaves in all their glorious color, football, crisp air, and halloween right around the corner!

at the very beginning of october, we went in for a good ol round of family flu shots. we survived with no tears! thanks to james and his clever game of 'name the princess'.

we hit up our very favorite, black island farms!

it was freeeeezing!

after tumbling one day, i took the girls to the pumpkin patch near our home and let them play in the maze and pick a pumpkin to take home and paint.

the next week, we met up with my family at another pumpkin patch to hang with cousins and check out a million other pumpkins!

the girls spent a lot of their time after school raking leaves and jumping in the piles. they don't want their dad to rake them up and dispose of them, but i think they'll be just as excited when the snow comes...

black island farms 2018

this long awaited tradition almost didn't happen this year. i can promise you i would have been sad until next fall if we hadn't been able to go. we lucked out being invited to a free event and we awaited the day with much anticipation. mostly from the girls...and a little bit from me.

this was our first time at their new location. it will take some getting used to for sure, but they were lots of familiar things that it made it feel like the old location. as soon as we parked, it started to rain. not good. but we forged on and decided to get on the wagon to go out and pick our pumpkins. it was an adventure with three kids, two umbrellas, and trying to keep everyone as dry as possible. the girls were such good sports and didn't complain once. we grabbed our pumpkins and the rain stopped on our way back. thank heavens!

it was even warm enough not to need all the extra layers i packed for us. the girls were so happy to run into the courtyard to do all the fun things!

not to mention, there were free donuts and hot cocoa. my girls thought this was the best perk of all!

we spent most of our time watching the animals, most especially the babies. baby pigs and baby goats are the cutest!

we made our way to the exit as it started to get dark. the girls talked james into buying them suckers and i talked him into a few baby pumpkins. we all left happy and satisfied with our annual visit.

as we drove home, the girls talked about their favorites of the evening and it finally felt like the fall/halloween season. it just wouldn't be complete without our trip to black island farms!

black island farms!

let the fall traditions commence!!!

oh man, this time of year gets me so dang excited for all of the things!!! black island farms is always at the top of the list and we were chomping at the bit to get out there this year!

adi just didn't know how much fun she was going to have...or how much kettle corn she was going to get to eat...

it was so fun to have my FIL join us this year. he's gone with us once before this, and we've been counting down the years until he got to come with us again!

as per usual, as soon as we got our wrist bands, we hopped on the flat bed to go out and pick our pumpkins! the ride out there was a little breezy, but NO mosquitoes which is a big deal! there was only two other families with us so our round trip was pretty fast.

the older girls had big hopes for their pumpkins and they couldn't wait to choose theirs all by themselves. kendall found hers pretty quickly and named it sticker. she cracks us up!

brooklyn wanted a HUGE one and she got it!

adi got to hang with nana while we all picked pumpkins. her daddy made sure to find her a good one! i'm sure she'll love getting out there next year to pick her own!

the courtyard games, slides, and races were next. we basically ran from one thing to the next. the girls just so excited for the next activity. they loved the slides, turkey races, the corn kernel box, the cow/pig train, and the bounce house. they were grinning from ear to ear the whole time. adi sat on my MIL's lap and ate kettle corn literally the whole time we spent in the courtyard. she coudn't get enough!

i love the changes in this picture every year! the girls are growing like weeds though.. and it's so sad, but so fun all at the same time!

i have to mention again how lucky i am (and the girls!) that james loves this stuff as much as we do. he looks forward to it, makes it extra fun for the girls, and with an attitude like that, makes doing things like this SO much easier for me! he really is the best and i couldn't ask for better!

when it was time to head out, we stopped to get some free pumpkins james won and also a butternut squash! we caved and let the girls each choose a tiny pumpkin. adalyn didn't let hers go the whole way home.

until next year black island farms!!! 

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if you're interested in going to black island farms...don't pay full price. this next sunday October 8th at midnight, they post discounted tickets for all the things we did! it's totally worth staying up late for the discount. but beware, they sell out fast! like by 4:45 AM!