Making the most of a long weekend

Thank goodness for Christopher Columbus. For obvious reasons, but especially for the long weekend this past weekend. It's not a holiday my company recognizes, but since Dennis had it off, I decided to take the day too.

We've had a lot going on lately, and haven't gotten around to some of our favorite fall activities. So, we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and get our autumn on (along with a few other fun things). I've included some pics from our weekend below, but there are lots more at our online gallery if you'd like to take a look.

We started out on Saturday with a trip to our favorite apple orchard, Jameson's High Meadow Farm in Chester, MA. Matthew fell asleep just as we got close, so we drove around for a while to let him catch a few winks. It wasn't the sunniest of days, but the area is so beautiful that it didn't even matter. Once we headed to the orchard, Matthew was in his glory. He had an absolute blast running around and loved helping Daddy pull apples from the trees.

Love how they have the same expression on their faces in this one....

Next, we headed to Knightville Dam to check out the foliage. We actually hit it at a pretty good time - we're usually WAY too late and everything is brown and dead. We were happy to see everything looking so beautiful, but it got crazy windy as we walked along the dam so we didn't stay long.

From there, we headed to Huntington Country Store for some goodies, and my personal favorite - the Wrapple - this fabulous apple roll-up they make at this time of year. Yup - went home with two of those, in addition to peanut butter cookies, pepperoni bread, and a new pepperoni and garlic bread concoction they've come up with. We also got an angel that we can use as a Christmas tree topper, and our Advent calendar, which we always buy there.

We headed home for a quick rest, and then went off to a concert at the Wherehouse in Holyoke. We saw the Makem and Spain Brothers as part of the 10th anniversary celebration for the Irish Cultural Center at Elms College. We'd seen them several years back when they tagged along at a Tommy Makem show we attended one St. Patrick's weekend. We love them, and apparently so does Matthew! When the music started, he just leaned back against my chest and took it all in, clapping now and then in time with the music. He even made his way into the video the ICC was filming - very cool!

On Sunday, I had a baby shower to go to at Fusion Cafe in East Longmeadow. Delicious food, great company and can't wait to meet the latest Pagliaro baby! Then, after the shower, we headed to the MassMutual Center to see Sesame Street Live. We all had a fabulous time - Matthew was in heaven seeing Elmo and all his buddies dancing around. He was so captivated - he alternated dancing in the aisles with moments of being purely mesmerized. It was so fun to watch! Somehow we made it out without purchasing the $10 Elmo mylar balloon, but we did buy a $15 stuffed Elmo. (Why didn't I just stash one of Matthew's in my purse?? Lesson learned.)

Then, on Monday, we decided to set out for pumpkins. We went to Pell Farm in Somers, where they have a great selection of pumpkins, but even better - they have tons of animals to check out and pet. They also offer pony rides and hay rides - such a fun place. The absolute best part of the visit was when Matthew picked some grass and walked over to a donkey and said "Onkey - wanna bite?" So damn cute!!

We came home with some great pumpkins, and then just CRASHED. All of us got in some great naptime that afternoon. A perfect ending to a perfect weekend. Hope you had a great one too!