pumpkin pickin

Brace yourselves.

There's gonna be a lot of pictures in this post. But that's the way the grandmothers like it, so that's the way it's gonna be. (Hi DeeDee!)

The day that we all moved out of my mom's house was a beautiful (windy) day. The moving guys came early in the morning and the house was empty by lunchtime. Poor Aaron had been confined to my lap for most of the morning to keep him out of the way, so we decided to head over to Linvilla Orchards to visit Pumpkinland and let him roam free.

It ended up being a great decision because he LOVED it. He loves pumpkins, he loves climbing, he loves animals, he loves to eat... basically it's his idea of the best.day.ever.

Without further ado, Aaron's Pumpkin Pickin.

At first he wasn't entirely sure about it.

Then, Isaac gave him an Aaron sized pumpkin and that seemed to cheer him right up.

Is this for me??

He is such a hambone. He really started to get into it. The kid can't resist striking a few poses when the camera is around.
Have you ever seen anyone so happy to be surrounded by a bunch of pumpkins?

Of course, it wasn't all smiles and giggles.
Of course, we had to take a few bites.
Okay, more than a few bites.

Like most things, I let Aaron taste it in the hopes that it will be gross enough that he'll stop gnawing on it. And, like most things, I grossly underestimate his taste for nastiness.
His poor pumpkin had actual chunks missing by the end of the day. Aaron apparently enjoys the taste of raw pumpkin. Ew.

We also spent a good bit of time pointing. Because that's what we do these days. We point. At everything.
It was very exhausting work.

Oh Mama, I'm so weary of being adorable.

So we headed to the petting zoo.
Aaron really loves animals, so he was having a blast.
Got in a little more pointing.

Then we visited the Farm Market (yum) and were ready to leave.

But not without our pumpkin!
That poor pumpkin didn't stand a chance, so we tried switching it out for an apple.
He agreed the apple was tastier but still has a special spot in his heart for the pumpkin. He still carries it around our family room like it's a toy. You know, a toy with a few chunks missing.

If you remember, we made this same journey around the same time last year.
Aaron was 26 days old. Good grief.

I just can't quite wrap my mind around how much he has changed.

We are so blessed.

Happy Fall!