Mud and All - 31 for 21

Fall in the Northwest can mean either beautiful crisp days or sodden, gray, muddy messes.

In my pre-Cora days, I was a lover of the gray days, happy to curl up with a book, a blanket and a cup of tea and watch the rain fall.   Now that Cora is here the rainy days usually just keep us cooped up inside.  We get cabin fever.  I get exhausted trying to come up with activities every few minutes for someone with a very short attention span, and Cora seems to get tired of doing circuits in our small living room.

This weekend we had both.  At my parents' house for the weekend, while it rained we played inside and then took a shopping outing, where poor Cora was confined to the cart in Joann's.  And apparently touching bolts of fabric and trying to pull everything off each and every shelf can only keep a toddler entertained for so long.  Luckily Grammie's house has all kinds of fun things to do.

This morning the sun was shining bright again so we decided to try the pumpkin patch.  After yesterday's deluge, the mud was sticky and deep, so the hay rides were on hold.  Cora was confined once again, this time to our arms as we sloshed through the muck looking for our perfect pumpkins.  Way too close to naptime, Cora made sure we knew that it was not her favorite way to spend a morning.

It's funny how the experiences you hold up in your mind as ideal seldom meet expectations.  Mud and whining and pricey pumpkins.  Not quite the idyllic scene that I pictured in my mind.

But if I shift my perspective just a little I realize that it was also beautiful blue skies, fresh air, and time with people that I love. 



All in all, a lovely weekend, followed up by a gorgeous roast chicken for supper.  We've settled in back at home and put away most of our things.  Little Cora is sleeping soundly for the moment.

Life is good.  Mud and all.