Pumpkin Pickin'!

We did it, you guys. We went and got pumpkins this year! Nevermind that it was on October 30th, at 4:00pm... but we did it!

Do you ever feel like life just whooshes by a few weeks at a time and suddenly, bam! It's the day before Halloween and you haven't taken the time to get pumpkins, or do any of those traditions you were wanting to!? That's how this October felt. It went by so fast!

We visited a really nice pumpkin stand this year that we'd never been to before. They had so many different kinds of pumpkins and gourds, it was awesome!! We picked up a few smaller items at this stand but actually ended up getting our "carving pumpkins" at another stand because the first place we stopped was sold out of that kind. They had loads of really cool and pretty colored ones, as you can see from the photos, but nothing that we felt would make a great jack-o-lantern! That's definitely our fault though... wanting the perfect carving pumpkin the day before Halloween... slim pickings!

Tell me, did you grow up carving pumpkins? My family always did. I have a very specific memory of one year when my Dad decided he was going to use a drill to make perfect little holes in the pumpkin for the light to shine through. Which, it totally does work by the way... just not for my Dad that day. 😂He tried to make an eye in my brother's "pirate pumpkin" and the drill got away from him and blew a hole out the side of the entire pumpkin. We laughed, but my brother (maybe late elementary school at the time?) was devastated. It was one of those "stop laughing because your brother is crying" moments. Ha! I'm certain we'll have those with June and Sunny someday.

I am determined to be more intentional moving into Thanksgiving and Christmas and do all the things on our family traditions list! I know that the holiday season isn't about cramming all of the things into an already busy schedule, but I also know that making time for a few of our family's favorite little traditions marks the seasons for us each year, helping each year stand out on its own and not just blur into all of the rest.

What tradition are you looking forward to most over the next two months?