October Fest

This past October had been a busy month. Yes, fall is in full swing and we definitely tried making most out of the month to do some of our favorites. I had planned on writing about each occasion, but between an infant, dial up Internet, and illness, time simply slipped through my fingers.

For starters, we began the month going to one of our favorite fall festivals: the Zeeland Pumpkinfest. It's a great way to kick off the fall season. Everything is free, with the exception of vendors selling the usual elephant ears or hot dogs. They have face painting, a pumpkin seed spitting contest, a chili cook off, an animal petting zoo, and even a pie eating contest. Unfortunately this October the weather simply hasn't cooperated. It has rained almost every weekend, but we were determined to go, so we took our umbrellas and hopped in the car. Fortunately they had most of the events inside. The girls did their first pie eating contest, which was hilarious. Poor Kyra, daintily ate her pie without her hands as fast as she could, but was no match for a boy who could scarf his down in seconds. Kyra wondered why she didn't get a prize, she thought she was pretty fast (apparently not fast enough).

The following weekend we had my old college roommate and family come to stay for the weekend. We had plans to go to one of our favorite apple orchards, but again the weather was not on it's best behavior. We did end up going to Post Farms, which is a pumpkin farm and has simply wonderful warm donuts. The kids had fun jumping on hay bails, riding on a hay ride, and running through a corn maze. We had a good time staying up late playing card games with our friends and catching up on old times.

Finally, it came time for Andrew's baptism. My family was all coming for the weekend, to help celebrate this joyous occasion while joining in on a few more fall activities. Of course, wouldn't you know the weather once more did not cooperate. My hopes of going to the apple orchard were pretty much squashed. I had hoped for a fun filled weekend for the kids and family, but between the weather and dreadful loom of H1N1, we pretty much stuck to the confines of our home. Of course, it didn't seem to matter much because the girls and their cousins had fun anyway. They just like to be with each other. We did end up carving the pumpkins that we grew (the heaviest being 78lbs!!) and ate a lot of good food (of course). The baptism went well too. All of the cousins went up in front of the congregation and sang "Jesus Loves Me." They sounded beautiful. I am so fortunate to have such a loving family.

So that was our month of October in a nutshell, busy but full of laughter, fun times and friends and family. The only thing missing was Halloween. I was so impressed that I made Kyra's costume this year, but much to my dismay only Katie went trick or treating. Sadly, Kyra developed H1N1 shortly before the day of gluttony. She seems to always get sick on holidays. I'm just glad she made it till after our family gathering to get sick. So as November kicks in, we are going into the new month quietly. We are taking it easy and hoping the remainder of the family stays healthy. Because it won't be long, and a few more major holidays will be coming before we know it!!