Pumpkin play

There's been a lot of playing with pumpkins around here lately. Here's an invitation to play that I set up last week on the coffee table (with our autumn table in the background):

Last year around this time, the kids were really into clay, and we were using it on a daily basis. So it was a natural extension to create pumpkin-and-clay faces. This year, they remembered, and moved the pumpkins to the studio to do it again:

This year, I was super inspired by this pumpkin head we found at the pumpkin patch:

See his red-pepper mouth and gourd eyes? They're nailed on! Genius! Kids can do that, and make a very satisfying jack-o-lantern (ok, maybe not the lantern part...) all by themselves. I couldn't wait to try it. I introduced the idea to the kids yesterday by showing them the picture and asking them to look closely at how the parts were held on. Then I set up labeled baskets for eyes, noses, and mouths, and we went on a treasure hunt through the studio, looking for parts that would lend themselves to nailing. They came up with some good ones! This morning, we began assembling our pumpkin heads:

(She nailed her pieces on, but I couldn't hold the nail and take photos at the same time!)

Here are some of the kids' creations:

(by a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old, and a 3-year-old).

It turned out to be a great way to decorate a pumpkin. I'd love to know if you give it a try!

One last bit of summer

The calendar might say October, but it was 85 degrees yesterday, so I decided we needed one more trip to the beach.

I'd recently realized that we could get to the beach and still have the all-important nap if we left the house at nap time and packed a picnic dinner. That meant Lucy could sleep in the car, and we'd arrive as she woke up, have a few hours to play, a picnic on the beach, a quick change into pjs, and then drive home at bedtime. So I'd searched online for the nearest nice-sounding beach, and found one in Connecticut, an hour and forty minutes away (had Google's directions not led us astray, but oh, well, it'll be fast next time).

It was perfect. A small beach in a quiet neighborhood of modest homes, no walk from the parking lot to the beach (and yet, you didn't feel like you were beside a road), a long stretch of beach to walk on past gorgeous unspoiled land, and millions and millions of treasures to find. Seriously, the slipper shells were a foot deep in places, and we packed our whole picnic basket full of them!

And the driftwood! Ooh, I was in driftwood heaven, dreaming of mobiles and Joel-esque creations.

Today, Lucy and I set up a bin of beach treasures for the children to explore tomorrow.

(And I finally realized that I could bring home all those stinky crab shells I like so much, as long as I set them up for exploration outdoors, rather than trying to put them on our nature table.)

It was the perfect getaway, one I can't wait to repeat.

In the works

There's something about fall that gets my creative juices flowing. I can hardly believe it, but I finally pulled out my sewing machine after months of it gathering dust. I was up late last night, working on a pair of pants for Lucy. She woke calling for me before I could finish, but I'm close! I have lots of other plans, too, if I can just find the time. Can't wait to share a finished product here again soon!