Family life is a bit like a runny peach pie - not perfect but who's complaining?
-Robert Brault
Quite true. Family life isn't perfect, but let's be truthful here - how unbelievably boring would life be if it were perfect? Having said all that, I'd like to conclude that my family has had a pretty perfect October. (This is where I'd insert the appropriate emoticon of that gleaming, sarcastic smile one makes after making an absurd statement, if such an emoticon actually existed. I digress.) But seriously, it was an awesome month. Not really 'perfect', of course, but that's what makes it so fun.
Before I get into all the highlights, let me first say this: I'm really bound and determined to update my blog more often. There's a few reasons for this.
Reason 1: I'm a chronic procrastinator, so I'll use this as therapy to work through this particular flaw.
Reason 2: Hopefully I won't be so overwhelmed when it comes time to update. When I wait too long, then there's soooo much to write that I end up a) becoming stressed about it and b) writing way too vaguely about life and leaving out potentially entertaining and awesome details!
Reason 3: Well, having more frequent posts is just more exciting for my hoards of avid readers! (Insert previously described emoticon.)
Why did you need to know all that? So that you can keep me honest, people! (Seriously, yell at me if it's been too long since the last post.)
So a few weeks ago, the Rhoades fam took an excursion to an apple orchard. It was Rocky's and, of course, Gemma's first time ever apple picking so this was a big deal!! Sadly, it was raining when we got there, even though the ever-reliable weather man had promised a clear afternoon. Nevertheless, we Rhoadeses are optimists and weren't about to let anything rain on our apple-picking parade... not even rain. So I put the Gemster in her Baby Bjorn and the two of us took shelter under my trusty Yankees umbrella that somebody gave me during the summer that I worked for the environment, as I like to call it. But THAT is a story for another time...
Anyway, Rocky and I had the greatest time picking apple off trees and chomping right into them to see which ones were worthy of taking home. (Don't worry Mom, it was an organic farm -- no pesticides, no one else touching them, no need to wash! haha) Oh, and for the record, this IS acceptable apple picking protocol at this orchard!
We had a great time, despite the rain. In fact, the only real disappointment of the rain was that I was unable to take pictures, due to fear of my camera getting wet. So, we went back two weeks later to snap some shots and buy more apples! (But mostly just to take pictures.)
So, being in the Fall spirit and with Halloween right around the corner, we of course had to go pick some pumpkins! Another first for the hubster and the Gemster. Had a super fun time again even though we got a whole bunch of those bramble things stuck to our pants and shoelaces. (Is that what they're called - brambles? Ya know, those spikey ball things?) Anyway, here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure:
So then, we went home. And I got this great idea to take pictures of our little baby INSIDE the big pumpkin! Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. But we hit a few bumps along the way...
Bump 1: Gemma has a big booty. (Of course, it's mostly diaper, but still.)
Bump 2: We cut a bigger hole for her to fit through. But she was still a bit to tall for it.
Bump 3: Apparently, sitting inside a pumpkin is CHILD TORTURE. Seriously, this kid was not having it.
Anyway, here are the results of failed operation Take-Pictures-of-Gemma-In-A-Pumpkin:
Fortunately for moms and dads everywhere, crying pictures are still completely adorable. Pitiful, but adorable.
So we moved on from there to hopefully redeem ourselves with a successful carving experience. And succeed we did! I'm not sure if Rocky really enjoyed gutting the pumpkins but he did a great job nevertheless. He even helped me finish sorting out the seeds from the stringy stuff once he was done. Why wasn't I finished with the sorting, you ask? Well... Mom, Dad, if you're reading this, I'm sure you're already laughing. You see friends, sometimes in my life, usually while working on some sort of inane project like this, I happen to engage in what some might call perfectionist tendencies. In other words, I was not about to have even one tiny little piece of stringy stuff on my seeds! I digress... again.
So. We sorted them out, baked them up, and munched happily away on them as we carved big ole faces into our fresh, rotund little gourds.
Yes, those are upside down flower pots. Seeing as I killed my plants long ago due to my extreme lack of a green thumb, I figured I could still put them to use somehow!
By the way, I do indeed have some great pictures of Gemma on her first Halloween. Once I upload those pics, I'll post them!! Toodles till next time! :)
