Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins!

I'm heading to a conference in Austin, Texas tomorrow- and because I'll be working through Saturday night, I took today off to balance my hours. And I invited Kristine, Elise and Rachel to come from Des Moines for some fall harvest fun at Vala's pumpkin patch. They arrived last night just in time for some corn chowder. Elise asked us if we had any toys, and we improvised. We remembered a box of kids' activities we had put together for our wedding, so we got that out and Uncle Matthew and I had fun taking turns playing with Elise, making jungle animals out of felt, coloring, and putting together puzzles.

And then today was the big day at the pumpkin patch. We originally went thinking we'd only stay for two hours, but there was so much to see and do, and the girls were having so much fun, that we ended up staying for five!! I really enjoyed having time to just get to know Kristine better. And of course it was great watching how excited the girls (especially Elise) were about everything- the animatronic pumpkin-eating dragon, the chance to feed live goats, the hayrack ride, the kettle corn, the train, the storybook farm, the pirate ship, etc.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I love being an auntie!