Goblins in the Garden

Or in our case, Mermaids in the Garden...

Boo, that daddy was sick and couldn't go with us. The girls had a great time trick-or-treating a week early! Not one Reeses was scored by mommy though. Halloween night better produce!

October...slow down please!

Ah...I just love October. The weather is perfect and there are sooo many fun fall activities going on.

You could find me at any one of the million pumpkin patches in the area, the Dallas Arboretum or of course the State Fair of Texas...any fine day of this month.

I just wished it lasted longer. Jerry has a training all day this Saturday...to me it is a crime! Being cooped up in a classroom? On a Saturday? In October? Pure craziness.

While I won't take on the State Fair of Texas without him, we have too many pumpkin patches to visit to wait for daddy! Jade didn't have preschool today, so we sent Lily on her way and headed with some friends to explore the "Great Pumpkin Festival" going on at the arboretum.

We visited the petting zoo,

Posed for pictures at the pumpkin houses,



Stopped for some pumpkin stew,

Got some other great shots,




and of course saw lots of pumpkins, other squash and gourds.


Can you pick out the Apple Gourds? How about the Peanut Pumpkins or Tiger Striped Pumpkins? Or my favorites, the Long Neck Swan Gourds? Sadly, I can identify all of them.

Just call me the pumpkin lady. I'll be here all month.

Storybook Playhouse

I am trying to catch up with my camera! An arboretum nearby is hosting a great event for kids in the garden. We went to the Storybook Playhouse exhibit with Jerry's parents at the beginning of June...back when the heat was still bearable.

Lily was in heaven getting to explore all the little houses scattered all over the arboretum.

Oh how I wanted a picture of Lily and Jade on this bench with the butterfly backdrop. They were less than enthused.

Come on mom, don't you see all there is to explore? City Green was first. Knock, knock.

Hmm...guess nobody is there.

Off to The Owl and the Pussy Cat. They had little synopsis boards at each play house. I though, being the nerd mom that I am, had checked out as many as the featured stories that I could find. You know, every kid wants to be prepared for their garden adventure.

That "pea green boat" held her attention for about 2.5 seconds...or until she spotted the Treasure Island house...complete with a sand filled boat and fun little door.




By that time though, Jade was already enthralled with One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish.

Lily wasn't too interested in the fish, partly because she had spotted Alice in Wonderland.

I didn't think they'd ever tire of the maze or all of the little doors there were to climb through.


They would have been content to play there for hours. Then I announced that I had spied Captain Hook's Pirate Ship...off to Peter Pan we went.


While Lily's imagination was running full force, Jade had spotted the staircase of Eragon.

Although Lily was mesmerized by the reading of Thumbelina and James and the Giant Peach, their houses didn't measure up in her eyes.






The eye of the photographer disagreed.

It was time for lunch by then anyway. Memmy and Paw did not disappoint either. They had brought all sorts of goodies in the cooler.

The exhibit is open until the end of the year...we hope to head back soon...Memmy, are you game for the picnic again?