Kicking Off Fall 2010

It's finally happening...cooler weather blowing in, college football, talk of costumes and most importantly, the pumpkin latte featured at Starbucks is back! The summer that was way too long and way too hot is finally over and my favorite time of year is just beginning...and this Fall...we will make sure to savor every moment ahead. There's so much to look forward to....carving pumpkins, picking out Olivia's second Halloween costume, stripping Alexis down to her diaper and grabbing pictures of her in a hallowed out pumpkin...after all, we have traditions to honor. Today we kicked our favorite season off with a trip just down the street to Yate's cider mill.

The day was perfect...well, mostly perfect. We snacked on caramel apples, cider and brought home more fudge than we could eat in a year. We strolled around and took it all in...painted pumpkins for sale, the creek rippling by behind us, the pony rides going around and around and the stench of the petting zoo. That's the part that makes this story not quite perfect, but creates the need to qualify the day as "mostly" perfect. Despite the overwhelming smell of donkey poop, we couldn't pass up the Kodak moment. At least we would get a few shots of Olivia petting the animals. So we bought an ice cream cone full of pellets and held our breath for the sake of getting some good shots.

My hopes and dreams of good pictures were instantly shattered. I hardly thought about how cute my dear daughter was as I yelled, "Don't touch the poop!" and screamed, "Get your hand out of your mouth!" after I watched her touch the sheep's tongue. Horrified, I found myself telling Olivia not to eat the pellets herself..."They're for the donkeys!" The whole moment went to shambles in heartbeat. Not only did the smell gross me out, but realizing that Olivia had no concept of gross made the experience overwhelming. No concept of gross whatsoever. We might wait a few years before we venture close to the animals again. And next time, we'll go armed with hand sanitizer. Lots of hand sanitizer.

Even though we didn't get the petting zoo pictures I dreamed of, I'll still cherish the ones we took today. I especially love the ones of Olivia on her daddy's shoulders. I like where she seems to be picking out the grays.