Fall is Here....

Yay - FAll! I love it - the leaves crunching under my feet, pumpkins, purple and yellow mums, the smell of leaves burning, hoodies etc...this is definitely my favorite time of the year. Last weekend it was gorgeous out! My friend Erika and I took the girls to the Botanical Gardens here in Morgantown. Elise wanted to go on a bug hunt and we thought it would be the perfect place for her to do that. When we arrived at the Gardens, we stumbled across a Fall Festival they were hosting for kids! It was a pleasant surprise. They had tents set up where kids could paint pumpkins, create head-wreaths out of leaves, make leaf rubbings and eat the most delicious foods associated with fall! Our favorite though (besides the yummy apple cider and popcorn balls) was building a Fairy House. We went off the trail and walked back into the woods that was created with huge Hemlock trees. The woman in charge of building fairy houses whispered to us and told us that fairies were coming and we had to build them a house to live in. Erika and I thought for sure she was going to whip out some kit from "Michaels", but instead she told Elise to search the woods for sticks, bark, leaves, rocks etc...that would be useful for creating a fairy house. Elise's eyes were huge almost the entire time. She walked very quietly because she didn't want to scare away any fairies that might be there. I loved the fact that she had to use her imagination to create this magical fairy house. We ended up using acorn tops for bowls to put on the rock that was the kitchen table. A leaf became the fairy's blanket and bark was the roof of our house. It was really cool! Olivia was asleep in the carrier during this time, but I'm hoping that next year she'll be able to help. I was able to snap a few pictures of her outside one day while it was still sunny! I also snapped a picture of her new face where she crinkles up her nose when she laughs - it is a hoot! She is discovering new things everyday - it's an incredible journey to watch.
Enjoy!
P.S. - Elise cocked her hat to the side - yeah, she's ghetto fabulous!