Harvest Festival

Well, it's official. Fall is here. For all my friends and family out west who are enjoying the "cool" 80ish degree weather let me say, I AM SO JEALOUS!! Don't get me wrong, there are many, many things I love about fall. I love the beauty of the changing leaves (it really get GORGEOUS out here), all my favorite TV shows coming back, the chance to eat soup again, getting out all of my fun fall clothes, all the activities that are available around here in fall (apple picking, hay rides, fall festivals, etc.), and the chance to have hot chocolate every night!
However, there is one thing about fall that I do not appreciate - cold weather!!! I do not like the fact that I have to start putting more clothes on my kids. It takes us so much longer to get out the door these days!! I hate waking up in the morning and rushing to put on a sweater and socks because it's so cold in my house (we are NOT turning on the heat yet - it's still September for crying out loud)! Plus, I know that it is only going to get worse. Once fall gets here, it's only a matter of time before winter comes along. As much as I really do love fall out here, I DO NOT like winter. I might have enjoyed it once upon a time when snow was a novelty that we got to see once in a while when we went to Utah, but no more.
But I digress. The moral of this story is - I DO like fall, but it's getting cold and that makes me very sad. Why can't it be gorgeous and fun out here but still be in the 80's? I don't think that's too much to ask for.
Well, now for the whole reason for my post. As I said before, there are many fun things to do out here in the fall. One of those things is the Harvest Festival at Shelburne Farms. We went there when my brother came out to visit earlier this month but the place really transforms for the festival! There are vendors, games, activities, and some yummy food! One of the things I like most about it is that the majority of the things to do are aimed at kids. Clayton and Noah had a blast. I was really worried because Justin wasn't able to come with us (he was studying) and I didn't know how I was going to keep an eye on both boys in such a crowded place, but it was great!
When we first got there, Clayton insisted that he was cold and wanted to wear his hood. It cracks me up, he looks like he just walked off the set of '8 Mile'. Anyway, here are the boys showing me how strong they are by hammering these wooden pegs. Clayton was actually really good at this!
Noah struggled a little bit. He really never made contact with the pegs, but he loved trying!
They had a bunch of these kiddie pools fulled with corn and all kinds of sifters and buckets. It was Noah's favorite place at the fair. He kept escaping out of the stroller (man, that kid is fast) and running back there.
Clayton got to make this necklace. He loved it so much that he also wore it to church the next day! (And hooray, I was finally able to convince him that he did NOT need his hood on!)
There were a bunch of hay bales set up that the kids kept climbing on and jumping around. I'm not sure if that's what they were there for, but Clayton and Noah sure loved it! (I wanted to get a pic of Noah on the bales too, but he kept trying to jump off, so I had to make sure that I was always ready to catch.)
The boys also got to make a cornmeal cake. Clayton was given a cup of corn that he needed to grind down with a rock in order to make flour. Then he needed to mix some cornmeal, water, and honey into it. When that was done, some men cooked it for him. It was actually really fun and kind of interesting.
Both boys loved smashing the corn!

Clayton adding his cornmeal.
The boys watching as the cake is cooked.
The final result! I didn't think it tasted that good, but Clayton ate the whole thing! (Yes, he's wearing my sunglasses. It was really smoky when they were cooking the cake and he kept saying that his eyes were hurting. This was our solution.)
This was the only picture I got of all three of us. We all look a little ragged, but I think that is a good sign that we had a lot of fun! (I wish we were all looking at the camera, but two out of three isn't too bad!)
It was a long and fun morning. We got to see and do a lot. Plus I got to eat some really yummy food! I ate the most delicious caramel apple. I tried to get Clayton to have some, but he heard the word apple and he was not interested! I didn't try too hard after that - more for me!
Noah didn't even make it out of the parking lot before he passed out! When we got home, I washed his face and hands, changed his diaper, and set him down for a nap and he didn't even stir! You've got to love any activity that wears your kid out that much!
I love that I got to do this with the boys (although we really missed Justin). We had a great time! I do love fall, especially in VT. It is a really special season here. I know that, no matter where we go after this, I will never again experience falls that are this beautiful. I am grateful for that, I just wish it wasn't so cold (dang my desert blood)!