It's the Great Pumpkin!

So now we've been apple picking AND to the pumpkin patch. While in years past, we've just gone to the local Methodist church for our pumpkin picking event, this year, we decided to branch out a bit further for a bigger "experience." We considered going to a larger operation farther north, but no one was really up for that much excitement this morning, so we headed to Berry Patch Farms in Woodstock - and only about 15 minutes from home - instead. Good choice!

We paid just $2 to park, instead of $5/a head for adults and $4 for Libby (plus all that expensive gas!) It was a busy place, but we got to have a nice morning with cute photos and plenty of room for Libby to run!

Pre-picking photo ops!

We went on a tractor/hay ride (like at Mercier Orchards) to get to the patch, and the tiny pumpkins and ornamental gourds grown right there on the farm. We found a whole bunch still on the vine, though Libby preferred the tiny orange "mini pumpkin" versions to the more ornamental options.

But mostly, she enjoyed jumping the rows and rows of vines and pumpkins with Daddy's help and on her own!

They also had some cotton plants!

Then, we got to the piles of large pumpkins - and she loved maneuvering her way through those, too. And finding an occasional small one!

She even lost a shoe at one point!

And we finished off with some time at the little playground!

Now, the other good news was they sold boiled peanuts - one of Libby's favorite things, right up there with fried okra! So, we got a bag of those to-go, too. Made that girl happy at lunchtime!

In other stuff, Gigi took her to school and picked her up on Thursday because my work schedule was different this week. It was a totally successful operation, but I really missed doing it. I did love having an extra full day with her this week on Friday, though!

Another Libby "funny" is when she doesn't want to take a bath (rare), she will put out her forearm under her nose, sniff it and tell us, "I not 'tinky!"

We also learned that she celebrated a classmate's birthday in class on Thursday as she sang, "Happy Birthday to You" absentmindedly to herself while she played with other stuff on Thursday evening. I went through nearly the whole list of her classmates before I finally landed on the correct birthday boy, Noah! Apparently they had cupcakes for their treat that day (so no WONDER she didn't eat her sandwich.) She did eat her healthy sides though, so I was proud of her for that!

She's also been in an extremely loving phase lately and taken slightly longer naps. And she's grown a bit taller - so both indications (obviously more the latter) of a recent growth-spurt. I just reviewed some BABY, baby pictures (newborn) while I was pulling up these photos and I can't believe how quickly she's growing. I feel like it's been in overdrive since she started school. I'm so proud of how well she's doing and how much she's learning, but it's definitely bittersweet. In the meantime, I LOVE how loving she is, with her patting our backs, necks, arms, etc. while she hugs us, tells us she loves us and gives real lip kisses.  ...and says, "Ooooh Mama/Daddy/insert family name" while she does it. Too much cuteness that sometimes I feel like my heart might burst.

And while the temperatures still reached the 80's today, it's been cooler and nice with that Fall feel in the air and I just love it.

Happy Fall, Y'all!