Oh How I Love Fall!

You know that question, "What's your favorite season?" I have a hard time answering that because there are certain things I love about each season. I love Winter because I LOVE snow, and I love sledding and snowman-making and snowball fights and snowangel-making, and I especially love snowboarding. In general, I like playing in the snow. There is also a certain feel of coziness that comes about in the winter, especially around Christmas time, another reason I love winter. I love Spring because that is when everything comes back to life, flowers are blooming, trees are budding, days are getting longer. It's just a fresh feeling of being alive. I also used to run track, which I loved, and it was in the Spring. I used to love Summer because of the long break from school. However, I still do love it for the long days, fresh summer produce, cookouts, warm weather, swimming/boating/etc., outdoor nighttime activities, and the many other wonderful summer traditions that come to mind when I think of Summer.



And then there's Fall; oh how I love Fall. Everything about it makes me happy -- crisp mornings, changing leaves, apple orchards, pumpkin patches, apple cider, carving pumpkins, caramel apples, pumpkin bread (I like apples and pumpkins if you can't tell), football games, bonfires, roasting marshmallows, hayrack rides, haunted houses, trick-or-treaters, candy...doesn't it just make you excited reading this?! It does me. So you can imagine my minor disappoinment last year when I realized Colorado wasn't quite as awesome as Illinois when it comes to fall activities. Leaves turn color and fall pretty quick here (within about 2 weeks), and the climate isn't ideal for apple orchards and pumpkin patches. Not to mention there aren't as many cornfields for hayrack rides, corn mazes, and haunted activities. In general, fall just doesn't have quite the zest and appeal it does in Illinois. But this year, I found a pumpkin patch, and you can bet you butt I didn't miss out on this opportunity. Even though it was an entire pumpkin festival, complete with games, activities, and food, (also meaning it cost money!) I coughed up the money to attend this delightful event. Of course, I also dragged my boyfriend along with me (I think he wanted to go, even if he pretended to feel otherwise), and my friend and her guy came too.



The morning of the Pumpkin Festival, we got up and headed to the pumpkin patch about 10am. Much to all of our surprise, there was a line to get into the parking lot, and it was no short line. It took about 20 minutes just to get parked. This place was packed!! And it only got more crowded as the day went on. It was pretty funny to look around because this was clearly meant to be a family function (there were games, activities, carnival rides, pony rides, face paintings, etc.). Everywhere we looked there were parents with their children. Literally, we only saw one other couple that didn't have at least one child with them. We joked about borrowing a child for the event...we felt kind of out of place. But I didn't care. I was at a pumpkin patch and I was pretty excited about it. So, off we went in search of the perfect pumpkin! And out we came with our prize.







There was even a pumpkin daycare; that's right, you could leave your pumpkin at this daycare and enjoy the rest of the festival knowing your pumpkin was safe. It was pretty cute.