Eleanor and Henry celebrated the arrival of fall with some fun fall festivals. On Sunday, we headed out to the pumpkin patch for a morning of rides and picking out pumpkins. Eleanor’s favorites were the dragon roller coaster and the super swings (a first for her!). She wasn’t sure about the swings at first, but then she went back for a second ride. Henry’s favorites were “Everything” – but he also really liked the dragon roller coaster, as well as the pony and camel rides. We picked up some pumpkins, donuts and apple cider and headed home to do some pumpkin carving with Uncle B. Uncle B made a very impressive “The Flash” pumpkin carving – although Henry was unimpressed and said “Uncle B, Jack-o-Lanterns are supposed to be scary, not cool…”. However, when Uncle B sent us a picture of his Jack-O-Lantern lit up – he was more impressed. Eleanor’s reaction was even better – “Wow, that turned out Amazing!”.
Then, on Monday, we hit the zoo for their fall festival. Dad’s favorite part was the corn maze – the kids weren’t sure what their favorite part was, but they both thought that perhaps they were getting a little too old for the attractions here. So, we headed back home for an afternoon enjoying the beautiful weather. Eleanor invented a new contraption using the old baby sled and a rolling pallet and they took turns pulling each other for sled rides. I’m not sure it would pass safety inspection, but the kids couldn’t get enough of it.
We also had an adventure on Saturday – we were out in Oak Brook for Eleanor’s Courage Club, and then were headed to the mall for a visit to Build a Bear. It turns out this is an outdoor mall, and just as we arrived a big rainstorm hit. Wouldn’t you know it – Dad only had one small umbrella with him, so we got a bit wet. The kids were a but nonplussed at first, but eventually it turned into an adventure as we had to wonder around the entire mall before we found the store. They had a great time in the store, and Eleanor used her own money to buy Henry a build a bear! Dad decided we needed the full mall experience, so we finished with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We showed up at 5:15 expecting the early bird special – but still had to wait 15 minutes for a table! What a popular place. Eleanor choose a strawberry cheesecake for us all to share – and the kids loved it! They both agreed that the graham cracker crust was the best part.
