Fall Festivities

Over the past month, our family has been doing as much as we can to make every moment count.  We LOVE the fall, and we also know that the colder weather on its way is going to make for some very short brisk days when we're buried inside.  I'm still not happy about turning the clocks back this weekend!

This fall, we made sure to enjoy the great outdoors.  We made time for hikes, hayrides, pumpkin picking, a train ride, a bonfire, and a trip to Vermont to sample some cheese and wine.  Yum!  I must say that this season did not disappoint, and I'm still enjoying the glorious views around the state since it feels like we're just hitting "peak weekend" when it comes to the beautiful fall foliage.

Hiking at White Memorial Preserve.  Can you tell it's only the beginning of Sept. here?

A hayride w/ a best bud from last year's kindergarten.

Sitting on the hay is not as easy as it looks!

The pumpkin patch at the "upper level" of March Farm.

The "lower level" patch.

My boy is getting taller.  He's not growing like a weed.  He's growing like corn!

A fall train ride w/ besties.

Oh no!  Not enough faces for the kids!

Of course, Lewie wants to be Snoopy!

The kids couldn't get enough of this simple hay maze.  They were chasing each other pretending they were Pac-Man.

A night hayride w/ the Cub Scouts.

We made the Cub Scouts hayride into our own date (with 30 kids that is)!

A bonfire initiation.

The Grafton Village Cheese Co. in Vermont

Sampling the cheeses.

The cheese "factory."  The production is closed on Sundays.

 

A Vermont inn and ski lodge.

The pub at the inn.

Who would have expected the inn to have a camel?

The inn's restaurant area.

Views of the Honora Winery and Vineyard in Southern, VT.

My beautiful mom!

 



The Fall is going by quickly but at least I've captured the best of it in pictures.  This weekend, of course, will provide more memories--especially of Halloween.  We've got some cool costumes this year, and (hint) Lewie did not choose a train theme as he has in the past.

The Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at Roger Williams Zoo

Last weekend, we made a quick overnight trip to Providence, R.I. to see the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at Roger Williams Zoo.  I've known about this event for quite some time now, but I wanted to wait until Lewie was old enough to appreciate it.  (Turns out--this was the year.)

Courtesy of the Roger Williams Zoo website.

After a short two-hour ride, we arrived at our hotel and decided it was best to take naps and go to the event late.  (The show started at 6 p.m., but the information on the website warned of a two hour wait to get into the "pumpkin trail.")  Since a two hour wait on a 40 degree night wasn't of interest to anyone, we napped and left the hotel promptly at 10:30 p.m.  Just as we had hoped, at 11 p.m., there was ample parking and no wait!  There were still plenty of people (which caused the pumpkin trail to get backed up in several areas) but overall, it was a great time!  We were able to stop at areas of the pumpkin trail that we enjoyed, and in other places where we weren't interested in lingering, we could simply walk around the people who were.

Since this year's  theme was called "The People's Choice," most of the 5,000 pumpkins were carved into favorite people (or cartoons) that are recognized to be part of our American pop-culture.  My husband's favorite pumpkin was a carving of the Beatles; my favorite pumpkin was a carving of Julie Andrews from The Sound of Music; and my son's favorite pumpkin was of LEGO Batman from The Lego Movie.

I had some difficulty taking nice pictures of the trail at night--the pics either came out blurry or were half-blocked by people in the way.  Still, since we decided to go back to the zoo the very next day, I was able to take some cool pictures during the daytime (and prove we were there)!

The next day, we used the indoor pool and signed up for a late-morning check-out.  On Sunday afternoon, the zoo was surprisingly uncrowded again, and we had a chance to enjoy all of the exhibits at our leisure.  Once again, we all had favorites--my husband's favorite animal was the Red Panda, my son's favorite was the Snow Leopard, and mine was really all of them, but I did enjoy seeing the elephants, the giraffes, and the Moon Bear. 

You know it's a great trip when you think about it a week later and wish you were still there!  This is exactly how I feel about this one.  Roger Williams Zoo is one of the oldest in the country, and it's BEAUTIFUL!  We had such a fun time seeing all the Jack-O-Lanterns at night and then getting a chance to enjoy the animals at the zoo the next day.  I am hoping to make this a new fall tradition to enjoy again, and again, and again.