miscellaneous fall fun

Sometimes I wonder about myself. Part of me likes gray, rainy days because I feel justified in staying indoors, wearing my loungewear (aka daytime pajamas) and relaxing all day. But I also feel trapped since the possibility of taking a walk or going to the park is off the table. It's hard for me to get work done when the house feels dark and shadowy, so I let it slide, and after a few days the house feels extra messy, which makes me long to escape even more. We've had several days this week like that and I find myself longing for the beautiful weather we had this past month. The Fall of 2013 may go down in history as being the best early fall ever, save a few days here and there.

scarecrow festival

In early October we went to Shawnee Scarecrow Festival. We went a few years ago and had a good time, but had even more fun this year with older kids.

The kids went right to work decorating their pumpkins.

Lauren was thrilled by the variety of markers.

 Will gave his a mustache. What is with him and facial hair lately?

After we decorated the pumpkins we headed over to the eponymous activity of the morning.

Will had a blast stuffing the scarecrow. After the scarecrow was sufficiently stuffed he went back into the huge pile of straw to play.

Meanwhile Lauren and I were working on making a face for the scarecrow.

While there a woman told me that Lauren looked like she could be a "Jolie-Pitt baby." That made me LOL.

parks




The kids love parks and we are lucky to live in an area with a lot of them. Most of our park time is spent at our neighborhood park, but we enjoy visiting other parks too.

 

 

 

 

 

hayride

My friend Mitzi organized a hayride and Lauren and I had a great time. It was another gorgeous evening and we had fun riding around SM Park visiting with our friends.  

Lauren loved throwing the hay. Unfortunately for me she got a handful down my shirt. When I got in the shower that night a nice pile of hay fell out.


arboretum

We spent a fun family night at the Overland Park Arboretum. The kids had a great time exploring. It was nice for me to have Anthony along because I always worry about one of the kids falling in the water. And it turns out my fears are not unfounded! We saw a kid fall in the pond while we were sitting on the bridge.  The arboretum is beautiful, every time we go I'm glad we made the trip.