Pumpkins!

This year, we didn't make it to Burt's Pumpkin Farm - but we did make to Gatlinburg, SeaWorld, and the Magic Kingdom.  So no complaints here!  Burt's has such atmosphere, resting in a little hollow in the mountains by a running stream, complete with a covered bridge there as well.  The color of the fall leaves and crisp autumn sky compliment the sea of orange pumpkins spread out along an open area, where toddlers explore and parents look for ideal places to take photos.  It's hard to not take a good picture there, with rustic barns, tractors, and oversized pumpkins in abundance.

And while we didn't get to Burt's, we did manage support another local farm instead.  Kinsey Farms is less than five miles from our home, and as you can see in the pictures above, it has plenty of pumpkins to choose from.  Mommy and Madison look fantastic, dressed in fall attire.  Madison really wanted to wear her hat again this year, the pumpkin beret.  She said it reminds her of when she was younger.  Which was like only a few years ago, but who's counting?

Madison pulled her wheelbarrow behind her, scanning the groups of pumpkins for one that would work for her.  It didn't take too long - she found a nice one, and picked it up herself.  Daddy takes a little longer to find pumpkins though.  It's a process, and sometimes it takes more than a few minutes.  To quote Boromir, "one does not simply grab any pumpkin."

Or, at least I think he said something like that.  The good news was this:  last night the women's ministry here at the church had a pumpkin-carving event, and another local farm donated a bunch of pumpkins to us.  And there were leftover pumpkins for the staff to use.  We'll use some at KidPak's Fall Festival, but Daddy also got a few to use for the Pumpkin Carving party at our house this weekend.  And some of the other staff members grabbed a few for the same purpose.  So we'll have some free pumpkins to carve this weekend!

In other news, the typing continues - and is done.  It was an off day, but Daddy finished the good work of the Christmas play script.  He did it all, and did it entirely on an iPad mini, typing furiously these last two days in all sorts of different locations.  He typed on the staircase in the rotunda, he typed out on the playground, he typed on the couch, and he typed in his favorite spot on the front porch of our house.  And he typed until he was done - and tomorrow is the big day to pitch the thing, just like a lot of other writers do, I suppose.  But there's a sense of confidence in this piece we've written.  Hopefully tomorrow we'll be pushing forward with the production details.

But enough about Christmas - we've got Halloween just around the corner, don't we?  Yes, we do.  After getting pumpkins, we did some catching up with music practice on the piano - Madison is working on "Oh Susanna" and Mozart's "Sleigh Ride."  Doesn't all this sound so sophisticated?  Yes, our daughter is playing Mozart, of course.  But she is doing well there, and despite some slow starts on certain pieces, she catches on and is slowly leaving Daddy behind...!

Tonight we watched "Monsters University" once again, a movie that keeps getting better each time we watch it.  Madison was so inspired that she wants to go back on campus with Daddy - via Disney Infinity - and do some more raids on Fear Tech.  But we had a quiet moment to sit and watch tonight, and we of course had the big tub o' popcorn with us as well.  Just before going upstairs to bed, we even had time to watch the latest Monsters University short, "Party Central."  It was just released, and is really funny at the end, particularly the bit with Ms. Squibbles.  She absolutely steals the scene.

Upstairs, Daddy read a few seasonal books - like Jerry Seinfeld's book, "Halloween."  And there are a few Disney Princess books on the subject too.  Tomorrow night, we might go with Pinkalicious and her Halloween book - but it was getting late tonight.  We also read from our Princess Bible of course.  We're actually almost through with that one, at which point Daddy will have to see about finding another age-appropriate devotional.  We might start reading the ones that Daddy has written himself, actually.  That kind of makes sense - test them out "in the field."

And so we close on another great day.  One reason for the greatness is that the script is finished, and a heavy burden no longer on Daddy's shoulders.  But looking back, it's just great sometimes how we fit so much into one day.  God is so good!