fall fun

I've been a bad blogger lately, but I got 13 rolls of film developed this past week, and I thought I'd share a few pics of the fun we've been having this month. :)

At the beginning of October, the kids and I painted pumpkins for the annual Pumpkin Decorating Contest at our town's Pumpkinfest. This was Ben's first time painting a pumpkin, and his first time entering the contest... and he won first place for the 5 and under age group! (Of course, his was the only pumpkin in that group, LOL!)

Emmalie made her pumpkin into a dragon, and won 2nd place in her age group:

Nick's Loch Ness Monster pumpkin won 3rd place in his age group. The sign he made to go with it says, "Caution: No Swimming! Loch Ness Monster lurks the lake!" :) My spider pumpkin was the only entry in the adult group, so I won first place... but I also won Pick of the Patch ~ the favorite pumpkin of all the entries! I was very honored! (And very excited about my $50 prize, too!) :)
While at Pumpkinfest, Em, Nick, and I each entered the Pumpkin Pie Eating Contest. They added LOTS of whipped cream this time:

Both Nick and Em came away with blue ribbons once again! What can I say, they are the pumpkin pie eating champions, second only to their Grandpa Rick! I didn't win any ribbons for it myself, though only missed 3rd place by *this* much.
Emmalie also made out like a bandit in the Penny in the Haystack contest ~ she found almost $10 worth of coins in the hay, along with a bunch of candy! Last weekend we headed to the apple orchard. Ben was content to sit in his stroller and munch on apples while the rest of us picked!



He also loved the apple cider donuts we had before we left... mmmmmmm....
(Kinda messy for toddlers, though ~ his hands and face were COVERED in cinnamon sugar!)

I'm planning on having yet more fun this month ~ I'm heading down near Indianapolis on Friday for a scrapping weekend with friends! :) Can't wait!