Things to Do - Measure Your Life Through Fall Festivals

Last week, after school let out we celebrated F's 7th birthday with our close friends at Burke Nursery's Pumpkin Playground (previously reviewed in this post), which is one of our favorite fall festivals, especially on weeknights when the smaller size and toddler-scaled attractions (drive a motorcycle, ride a horse, etc.) make it less overwhelming then Cox Farms (which is also very fun, though quite large).

There's nothing like a fall festival for you to really realize how much your kids have changed, especially as most of the attractions stay somewhat consistent from year to year. This year T rode the big slide by himself - carrying his own haysack up and down the stairs. And I looked on, barely noticed in the background - free (finally) of a stroller and diaper-bag.

As always, the girls couldn't wait for the haunted hayride, though this year they proclaimed it "not scary enough", whereas two years ago all three children fought for the protection of my lap as we made our way past various ghouls and ghosts. And while all the kids had a blast - fighting imaginary bad guys on the pirate ship, flying a plane, merry go rounding, and digging for change in the money/sand pile - I suddenly realized that our fall festival days are numbered. Eventually they'll grow out of this stage. I'm just not sure I will.

When we were at the Pumpkin Playground, I saw a mom desperately trying to convince her children to take one picture together, next to the toddler-sized carousel. The oldest boy (who looked about 10) kept complaining, stating that he was "way way too old" that he couldn't even fit on one of the horses (which was true). But the mom just kept repeating "please, I just need this you guys, just one more time, take this picture for me." And even though I have a few years left to go, I knew EXACTLY how she felt.



There's real money in "money mountain" - the kids found almost 50 cents combined, practically a fortune.



A few scenes from the haunted hayride. Even if the girls disagreed, I was scared (well, a little).