Recap of the Holidays- Festivals and Pumpkins Patches

It always amazes me how quickly the holidays fly by. In fact, other than the extra pounds I gained, there is no evidence they even happen, I feel like I blinked and they were gone.

With a calendar full of activities, I seemed to have gotten behind on my family blog posts. So, If you will bare with me, I am going to do a recap of all of our holiday activities. And of course, I'm going to start where I left off, my favorite season of all...Fall

 (Fall is the official holiday kickoff for me and my family)

Fall is no doubt my most favorite time of the year. Being raised in the South, I'm not sure if  it's just in my blood or part of my heritage, but when the first signs of Fall appear and the weather begins to get cooler, I get giddy.

This year living in MO it seemed we got to enjoyed Fall a little longer. We moved here in September and I thing we only ran the AC maybe 2 or 3 times. The rest of the time we  opened the large windows and welcomed the fresh Fall air into the house.

I know for a lot of my Southern friends Fall means Football, Tailgating and Halloween. But for me it's the fresh air, the beautiful radiant colors of the trees, the hayrides and  bon-fires, the cool nights, the pumpkin patches, the corn mazes,  family time, traditions and  memories made. (and yes, maybe a little football..lol)

This year with us living away from all of our family and not getting to be a part of our family traditions there, we ventured out and made our own family memories.

We heard about an Apple Festival in a town about 45 mins away and thought we would give it a try. They had a Farm Market, a live band, lots of yummy food and several kid friendly activities. The first one that caught Arlee's attention was the hay maze.....

        I honestly did not think we would ever get him out of there..... we may have bribed him with food...lol

 His first time trying a caramel apple and my first attempt at fried Oreos. They were good but, I think I prefer regular doubled stuffed Oreos and milk

                 The music was awesome..it was a jazzy, cajun group that was very entertaining

 My favorite moment of the day was when he was riding his pony and grabbed on to me and said "Mommy don't let go." Well,  you don't worry,  my sweet little darling, Mommy won't ever let go!

It was a great day with some wonderful memories made. 

Our next fall family outing was the Pumpkin Patch. The KC area had so many to offer and it was a bit overwhelming trying to pick the best one for us. One caught my eye above all the others because it included a train and with my son's love for trains it seemed the obvious choice. Plus it was the closest to our house which was a huge bonus.( The words pumpkins donuts may have had a huge pull too...lol) 

                                           of course, our first stop had to be the train ride....

                                                       proudly showing off his train ticket....

 after walking around and watching the pig races we hopped on board the tractor ride to the pumpkin patch...

After having some fun in the pumpkins patch it was off to the playground, some lunch and then the barn...

Arlee loved feeding the animals. He told me he will be a "barmer and have a barn and lots of chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, camels (yes, camels..lol) horses, bunnies, dogs, cows, kitties and a tractor." 

We had a wonderful time and ended out fun day with a pumpkin donut! Cant think of a better way to end a perfect day.