The Fall

"Summer is already better, but the best is autumn. It is mature, reasonable and serious, it glows moderately and not frivolously...It cools down, clears up, makes you reasonable..." ~Valentin, Finnish writer

If you live in Temecula, you can understand this quote full well about the coming of Fall. The summers here are hot and I love them because the kids are able to play in the water, wearing maybe just some underpants or a diaper, and stay outside with the neighbors until almost bedtime. But the Fall is so lovely. The heat slowly dies off and the tenseness that I sometimes feel in the deep heat lessens. It gets darker sooner, which gives way to cooler evenings, creative nighttime activities, and warm PJ’s and blankets.

This Fall has been jam packed with pumpkin patches, festivals, and costumed events of all sorts. This year has been especially fun because my once plump little pumpkin Henry, is now a rambunctious toddler, running in and out of mazes, climbing on bales of hay, and getting filthy dirty right alongside his big brother.

About two weeks ago, we went to Corona Pumpkin Farm in Perris, of all places. Thanks to Groupon, we tried something new. At first glance, the hopes for the kind of memories I cherish from the pumpkin patches of the past seemed unlikely. But to my children and their cousins, all they could see was fun to be had. Whether or not there were bounce houses, face painting, hay rides, didn’t matter to them. There were fields to dirty themselves in, pumpkins to pick, and baby chicken to hold. And most importantly, the company of each other, which is truly where the memories originate and permanently attach in our minds and hearts.

Henry checking out the chickens from a safe distance.

A somewhat successful posed picture of all the cousins at the patch.

I love this picture of Michelle and Henry, a special moment captured.

Henry's first love - Avery

Oliver handing out candy to his classmates

Joe and our Neighbor Ryan, with the kids, Bates Nut Farm

Oliver's First Day of School

Oliver had his first day of preschool on September 27, 2011. It was quite an event getting him there on time as the boys and I are used to leisurely mornings of Peppa Pig and pancakes for breakfast. After eating breakfast, I went to get the boys dressed and Oliver decided that he wanted his red monster shirt, since he saw that Henry was going to wear a red shirt that day. Although I had picked out a cute little outfit for him to wear on his big day, I decided to let him wear what he wants. After all, he is a big boy now and the shirt still matched the shorts I picked out, so both of us could be happy with his choice.

Once the boys were in the car, we swung by Joe’s school to pick him up so that he could come with us on Oliver’s adventure. I was running late of course because getting the kids out the door and into the car is no small task. There are toy and movie requests, lingering before planting the bottom in the car seat, etc. Now most moms would have researched where the school was located, but disorganized me did not. When you first pull into Harveston, the neighborhood where Oliver’s preschool is located, there are two buildings that may present themselves to unknowing parents as possible locations for a preschool. Neither of them were the preschool. The nice office ladies in one of the buildings did point us in the right direction though.

At this point I was freaking out and making my family maybe a little nervous because I had envisioned this glorious first day of preschool for Oliver. We would stroll in calmly, meet Oliver’s teachers, check out all the centers, meet some friends, all while capturing the most perfect pictures of the memory taking place. Instead, I was flying through the neighborhood, chirping on two wheels as I took the corner into the driveway of the preschool building, and rushing to the door so that my son wouldn’t be late on his first day. Once we got inside though, most of my hopes and dreams came true as the teachers were not in a hurry to rush the parents out of the classroom on the first day, thankfully.

Oliver found a place at one of the centers and settled in for some play dough fun. We kissed him good bye and although he had expressed some nervousness about me leaving him earlier that morning, he seemed content with being at preschool. As we drove away, I had mixed emotions that varied from being sad that my baby was no longer a baby, to being proud and excited for Oliver. There is part of me that wants to hide him away in my house, but he’s much too smart for me to not give him the opportunity to learn and grow into the fantastic little boy that I am already seeing him become.