Carving Pumpkins

The girls loved carving pumpkins this year. It became a two day event as emptying out Isla's pumpkin took us forever (we're naturally slow as it is!) but was highly successful when we were finished. I let each girl take a marker and draw the "face" they wanted to cut out. Isla just smiled for hers and I copied her darling face onto a pumpkin. Those five teeth get me every time. Lucy's was easily the hardest to cut out as she just drew crazy lines all over her pumpkin but somehow ended up with one tiny star that turned out to be the cutest detail. Sophia's looked like an artistic ghost and I loved the simplicity of it. She had a much more elaborate detail of what everything was (like a stack of cups?!) but ghost worked for me when it was all said and done. I love the way these girls make even the simplest holiday activities so exciting. If I'd let Isla, she would have left her hand inside the pumpkin to eat the guts all day long. Let the orange lights glow on!

Pumpkin Baby

I don't know about you but there's something about a baby in a pumpkin that I can't resist. I've done this with each of my girls and perhaps it's because I know that by the next year they will be too big to fit inside. The constant theme of my life these days is "time is a thief" and unfortunately that won't be changing any time soon. Babies are wonderful but so are my big girls. I love how they learn and problem solve. I love how needed I am, even though frustrating at times. In the eyes of a child, a mother is a superhero. The person in their life who can do anything and fix anything with a simple kiss. I hope these girls never outgrow my kisses, always think I have the right answer (even though I usually don't) and that someday they will let me put their babies in a pumpkin too.

The Calgary Corn Maze

It wouldn't be fall in Calgary without a trip to the corn maze. I felt worried when we got to Alberta we wouldn't make it here because of the snow but a beautiful, warm weather streak has found us and we're taking advantage of it. It was a fun, family night that only could have been made better by remembering to bring coats for when the sun went down (still a rookie Mom four years in..) We let the girls call the shots, taking us from slide to slide, to animals and pumpkins, on the train and finally by request they let us go into the corn field. They loved everything except for when it was time to leave and how cold their fingers were. It was a heat-full-blast kind of drive home, followed by bed time hot chocolate for all. 

The cool crisp air reminds me of being a little girl, the smell of a fire taking me back to running down the street and smelling a fire in a nearby chimney. I can remember raking leaves for my neighbors, charging two dollars a yard and staying outside until I could hear my Mom calling my name from the back step. How grateful I am to be making fall memories with my own little girls, traditions they will hopefully carry throughout their lives. When you embrace each season you come to appreciate all that is has to offer, cold fingers and all. 

Bows: @brayarosebows on instagram (Canadian-made and shipped at the best price you'll find!)
Isla's cardigan: Bumbelou
Lucy's dress: Zara Kids
Sophia's dress: Old Navy (similar) 

The Pumpkin Patch

It was a lay low kind of weekend around here, hopefully one we can look back on and say we were resting up for a fun week ahead. Is anyone else a frequent weather checker like me? The cold that blew through this weekend had me making sure the warm temperatures predicted for this week were still coming. I'm excited to enjoy some Calgary fall and pick out pumpkins for our door step.

We went to The Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island before leaving the Portland area, a must-do in the fall because it's free! You pay for the pumpkins and treats but the hay ride, animals, kids hay maze and corn maze are all free. It was a fun cousin day, one last hurrah before the kids grow way too much before seeing each other again. Isla wanted to eat all the things, Lucy tripped over everything and Sophia was all giggles, wrapped up in every moment. You know, it's funny that I love the pumpkin patch so much because orange is one of my least favorite colors. I could care less for the color but when it comes to a pumpkin, I want them allllllll. October, you are such a dream!