We've been waiting a while for this....Halloween

We haven't trick or treated on Halloween since 2010. The last two Halloweens we had storms that postponed (2011) and cancelled (2012) Halloween.  As the days got closer, we kept getting more excited that this year Halloween would happen. We had some rain tonight, but rain wasn't going to stop us. 

We went out, we trick or treated, and it was awesome.

I love seeing everyone's decorations---from a giant frankenstein to a guillotine. 

This witch is very popular on my street. The neighbor who puts her up does an awesome Halloween display (that will be a separate blog post).

Yes, they really built a castle on their front lawn.  My town takes Halloween seriously!

Poe the scarecrow.

I was afraid that all our excitement for Halloween, it wouldn't be as awesome as we hoped and imagined...I was wrong, it was even better.

It's magical...visiting the Blaze

There is this magical place filled with thousands of beautifully carved pumpkins. If you live anywhere near New York, and haven't visited the Blaze yet, immediately put it down on your "to do list." Seriously. It is incredible. 

I love the sunflowers. The stack pumpkins on top of each other to carve life size sunflowers. 

As you enter the Blaze, you follow a path that takes you through these magical worlds all created with carved pumpkins. I think I will let the pictures tell you the story of my visit. If you have tickets to go, this is just a little glimpse into the Blaze. There are so many things to see that didn't make it into this post.

I hope you enjoy this sneak peek at the magic of the Blaze.

Pumpkins!!!!!

As you may have noticed by now, I love everything fall, especially pumpkins. I love them all---the orange ones, the green ones, the misshapen ones. Oh, I love the bumpy ones too. Every pumpkin is fabulous in its own way. 

One our favorite autumn traditions, is a visit to our favorite pumpkin patch.  A quick detour to get a pumpkin spice latte, and we were on our way. We walked into the pumpkin field, surrounded by pumpkins of every shape, size and color. It was wonderful.  

Here are some of my favorite pumpkins from our visit.

I love the dark green pumpkins.

I would have brought them all home, but two wheelbarrows full seemed to be a good limit. The one on the right in the picture above, did come home with us. 

No one eat these apples until I photograph them

I am obsessed with autumn. I look forward to this time of year. I am thrilled when I see leaves start to change color. I have several favorite sweaters I'm impatient to wear. I love the crunch of leaves, the crisp cool air, a fabulous scarf and a cup of coffee. I love apple picking and pumpkin picking and being outside and celebrating everything fall.

We recently went apple picking. I think I might be the only person who leaves the orchard wondering if I should have gotten a few more apples. I think we came home with about eighty. Yes, you read that right - 80 apples. 

 After we got home, I went through all the apples and picked my favorites. Everyone was told they were not to be eaten until they were photographed. Well, things don't always go as planned and yes, they were all eaten before they were photographed.

I went through the remaining apples and found all of these. How did I overlook these the first time. They are all beautiful.

I do have plans for these apples - apple pie, apple sauce, apple everything, but first, they need to be photographed. Apple picking is my first fall activity of the year (yes, I picked them before the giant pumpkin weigh off). 

Along with the apple picking, of course there was apple cider and apple cider donuts. However, if the first batch of apples in my house couldn't last until they were photographed, there was no way apple cider donuts would last until they could be photographed.

I think every season is pretty in its own way. I believe the colors of fall are amazing. The array of colors we found in the bag of apples we picked, were beautiful. I knew they had to be captured before they were all eaten.

Now they are on to fulfill their destiny as apple pie and apple sauce.

I have lots of pumpkin posts and Halloween posts planned. Keep reading and Happy Autumn!