This year we planned a coordinated effort for our pumpkin patch outing. Taking into consideration Stella and Alex’s BFF status, it was natural that they do the next best thing to hanging out at the mall scamming for guys – roaming a dirty field for squash. 3-ish year olds love this kind of thing. No, really.

Whereas I used to be the kind of mother who wouldn’t even consider leaving the house without 2 spare changes of clothes, diapers, wipes, bottles, toys, birth certificate, umbella stroller and three additional apparatus for carrying, I realized halfway there that I had forgotten any kind of coat or hat for Porter. This is why you may notice a bluish tinge to his lips in some of these photos. Poor kid. He’s lucky I haven’t left him on the top of the car yet.

We waited a week to actually carve the pumpkins, and it was all I could do to convince Stella that a knife was not a kid-friendly tool…even the “safety” kind. She eventually acquiesced, and accepted that the best she was going to get was to have her hand on mine while I did the actual carving. She did have a fun time scooping guts though. Being that I am the only one who takes photos around here, and I had to be on the task of keeping her away from the weapons of destruction, there are not a lot of photos of the actual carving part. Instead, what you will see is pumpkins, one photo of Stella with a splayed open pumpkin, then all the pumpkins and jack-o-lanters neatly displayed for your viewing pleasure.

Being that Porter was napping during the majority of the carving activities, I had to stage some ‘Boy with Pumpkin’ shots for those of you who would likely complain if there weren’t adequate seasonal photos with both children (yes, grandparents, I am looking at you).