"Tis the Season

... for pumpkin hats!! Grandma Patty made these a few years ago - they're actually both the "grown up" sized hats, a bit roomy on the kids, but the baby sized one is too small for even Maddie now! They're so cute in them. I'm just really disappointed because we're here in Maine for Halloween weekend, and I've left the hats behind in NJ!!! And it's COLD here! Ah well, they did get quite a lot of use out of them this month, and we'll keep wearing them for a few more weeks, till we have to switch to super-duper warm hats.

Matzo

I don't think I've ever posted a photo of our cat, and since the blog exists partly as a way for us to look back on our lives in years to come and remember the good, the bad, and the furry (Andy would use other adjectives to describe Matzo) - I thought I'd better post a few now. Today we actually installed a new cat door to the basement, since the existing door did not meet with Matzo's exacting requirements (the new one has a soft flap; the old one had a hard plastic flap). We're hoping that he'll deign to use it so we won't have to leave the entire door open at night, wasting lots of good woodstove heat. Another reason for posting photos is that many of our friends think we may have an "imaginary cat," since they never see him... he goes into deep hiding when there are strangers around, although he has been known to make appearances. He's actually in deep hiding a lot - but as soon as the kids are napping or asleep at night, he appears, happy and meowing for his dinner. He's MOST happy when Andy is away on business, and he has me all to himself. He may seem standoffish if you don't know him, but when it's just me and him, he's so cuddley and sweet. I love you, Matzo.

October Farm Fun

We have had so much fun this month going to the local farms, especially Tranquilty Fams in Andover - nearly every weekend has been beautiful weather, and there's not much we'd rather do on those crisp, sunny days than dive into huge vats of corn! Seriously, it's awesome. Their hayride is so nice, although it starts off going right next to the pumpkin catapult area (see photo of Andy demonstrating his pumpkin hurling skills), so even though it's super fun to watch them get shot into the air towards a distant target (hopefully, not us) I'm always a bit afraid that we'll get pelted by a stray. That's the dramatic part of the ride; the rest of it is just nice, bumpy dirt road all the way to the pumpkin patch and back again through the woods. The first time we went we just enjoyed the ride, but then the pumpkins looked so good out there, we decided to go back the next weekend and actually get off the wagon and hunt for our own pumpkin. I may be wrong, but I think is be the first time I've ever done that! I felt bad for all the zillions of beautiful pumpkins out there that would never get picked, since there are just so many of them.

Turtleback Zoo

We had a really fun trip to the zoo yesterday, with Emily and her friend, Jacob. The ferris wheel and the train were big hits, as usual. :-)

Boy Cut

Yesterday I tried to cut Maddie's hair (as she wandered around, playing) and ended up giving her exactly the same cut that I always give Oliver. Bummer. Lesson learned: I can manage a boy cut, but not a girl cut!!

Walking Shoes

Our little walking girl!! Couldn't resist posting this, as I'm so excited that since Maddie has (finally!) started walking, she can start wearing dresses!! Kind of hard to crawl in them... She pretty much completely missed "sundress" season, so we'll have to move on to warmer ones. Last weekend we had a little window of opportunity, on another visit to Sky Manor Airport. I guess this may be the last time she'll fit into this cute little sundress... she does look happy in it!

High Point

They forecasted a very windy day today, so where did we go? High Point State Park, the highest place in NJ... where it was CRAZY WINDY!!!!! Just a beautiful day, gorgeous puffy clouds, great light, so many pretty fall leaves flashing their colors and blowing around. We took these pictures next to the big monument on the top of the mountain, and the wind was blowing so hard that you could barely breath, and it was actually blowing us around, and you could lean into it a bit... we all just laughed and laughed. Ollie loved it!! Maddie was a good sport, too, she seemed pretty impressed! Tomorrow is supposed to be even sunnier, and we're heading back to Tranquility Farms to have another hayride and choose a pumpkin. Yay!