FALL IS MY FAVORITE.

I love this time of year. Kids are in school, routines fall back into place and life seems to slow down a little. The air is cool and crisp. The wind blows our hair and we are snugly warm under blankets. The colors are vibrant and the sound of leaves crunching under our stroller wheels makes me happy. My kids' laughter calls me to go play with them instead of to clean up whatever mess is awaiting. Soup stews on the stove and I smile, thankful for all the blessings I have been given.

Fall would not be what it is without trips to the apple orchard, baking pies and homemade apple sauce, sipping hot cider, jumping in piles of leaves and picking out the perfect pumpkins at the pumpkin patch. We've been busy soaking it all up. Savoring every last second, as we know winter is just around the corner. I am happy. My kids are happy. Many memories to treasure have been made.

Fall would not be fall...without a trip to the apple orchard. We like the Ma and Pa kind the best. No crazy carnival games, face painting, or pony rides. Just get right down to the good stuff. Picking apples. After all, that is what we came here for. We like supporting our local community, and the scaled back versions are just more us.

Brother was happy as a clam to be at the orchard, as long as Daddy kept giving him apple slices to munch on.

We picked the Keepsake variety, just the right size for a little Nugget snack.

We picked the Sweet Sixteen variety, perfect for making pies.

And we picked the Courtland variety, which stays white while cooking, making it great for applesauce.  

An 'N' for Nugget and Nick, who make one delicious apple pie.

Fall would not be fall...without making projects. We love us a good project around here, and the creativity seems to flow just a little more when it revolves around a holiday. (Thanks to fellow bloggers and Family Fun magazines.) Nugget loved this project so much that she made four of them, but so far has only shared one with our neighbors. The rest she wants to keep. Which is just fine. But now I have to raid our fridge (again) for more jars so we can actually share some of these cute creations.

Fall would not be fall...without jumping in the leaves! Or in Brother's case...eating them. There is an awesome tree right across the street from our house, and every year I love admiring its changing leaves from our front windows. I always take some time to capture Nugget playing in them, and now this year Brother got to join in on the fun.

Nugget's leaves.

Brother's leaf. How can you resist chubby little baby fingers?

Mama's leaf.

Going in for the taste test.

The verdict? Not as good as they look.

Fall would not be fall...without a cute new hat. And I would like to introduce Brother's new 'ooh' face. He's pretty vocal these days, and this seems to be his permanent new look, as he is always in awe of something.

And last, but definitely not least, fall would not be fall...without a visit to the pumpkin patch. This was Nugget's favorite activity by far. Before we went she had already picked out in her mind which kind of pumpkin we each should get. Brother was to get a teeny little one, she was to choose a squat one, a tall skinny one was for me , and Daddy got a big, fat, bumpy one. She did a good job of helping us find our assigned pumpkins, and even brought one of her pumpkin books along as a reference manual. Seriously, how did I ever get along life without her? She cracks me up, my little Nugget girl. (a random side note...Nugget insists my favorite color is yellow, although I repeatedly tell her it's pink. What a hoot she is. )

 These two have such a special bond already, and I love watching it unfold.

 Nugget's perfect little pumpkin.

 Again, went to a local Ma and Pa pumpkin patch, although this one was just the Ma and her 11 kids! It was awesome. Without even asking, one of the ladies approached us and wanted to make sure we got a family picture. I handed over my fancy camera and she worked it like a pro. She couldn't get enough of my kids and snapped a ton of pics, all which turned out awesome. Yay for a nice family photo!

 Cutest pumpkin in the patch.

 And don't forget this one. She's quite adorable too!

 Our little pumpkin family.

 We ended our fun with a tractor ride around the pumpkin patch. Brother was in Heaven and didn't take his eyes of the enormous tractor tires the whole ride. Such a boy thing already!

More fall fun to come. Hope you're loving it up too!