Fall, Fall, Fall...

I LOVE Fall. The crispness in the air, the colors, the fact that I can finally pull my favorite clothes out of storage, being able to cook and bake without feeling like I'm dying in my mini-kitchen - it's all good with me.

To kick off the Fall in proper fashion (yes, I know it started a month ago, but the weather is finally here), we had our second annual pumpkin picking trip to Demarest Farms where the boys got to run around, go to a pumpkin patch, and we all got to enjoy copious baked goods. Pictures are coming after this post. We got there earlier, calendar- and clock-wise, than we did last year so the crowd wasn't nearly as bad this time around and we had a better choice of pumpkins, bringing home two very nice, plump ones that will add to our Halloween-y home.

On our way back from the Farm, I discovered Yarn Diva, which now rivals Skein Attraction for my favorite LYS (local yarn store) in Jersey. The staff were so friendly; I never once felt like I was intruding (believe me, a lot of yarn stores make you feel like you're a potential perp just for walking in the door) and was allowed to just wander freely. I ended up getting two balls of soy silk sock yarn and some DK weight yarn, plus a set of double-pointed needles for my latest sock project. I'll be going back there often.

Last night, I attempted to figure out some more of Second Life. After 20 minutes, my brain hurt and I logged off. Sure enough, though, there is a Second Life forum on Ravelry, so I've joined it and friended one of the knitters there - so maybe she'll take me on a tour. That, and I've bookmarked a Wiki on Second Life.

Less than a month to go before registration at SJSU!! I'm in excited countdown mode.

Pumpkin Picking!

So today Mike surprised us and went to Jersey, picked up my mom, and took us all to Demarest Farms in New Jersey so the boys could go pumpkin picking. The kids had a great time, and thanks to the amazing bakery they had, so did I. Just when I thought I was getting back on track, foodwise...

Will and Alex see how they measure up

Alex and a little furry friend (no, the rat from the train adventure last night was smaller)

The inside of the bakery was all done up for Halloween, with skulls, giant, hairy bats and spiders descending from the ceiling, skulls and witches aplenty, and TONS of Halloween-y goodness from sticky body part things that grow in water to Halloween cookies and cakes. They had homemade donuts and apple cider, both of which we bought in quantity. (Taste a homemade donut and see if you go Dunkin' again. I dare you.) It was all just so much fun, I forgot that I was raging with PMS for a little while.

That bakery ROCKS. I think I need to add Demarest Farms to my list of places to visit on an obsessive basis. We had ice cream, hung around outside and let the kids run around a corn maze (not that much of a maze where I couldn't see the kids), and then went on the hayride to the pumpkin patch.

Mom and the boys on the hayride line

The boys running free, looking for the perfect pumpkin

Alex, who's recently read Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin, ran all over the field looking for "the perfect pumpkin: not too fat, not too tall, not too short, not too big, not too little." He finally found one (after some coaching, I think, from Mike and Mom, who really wanted to get back home) and Will not only found his but proceeded to help Mom find hers. He even painted the face on it when he got back. Whatta kid!