The Great Pumpkin Festival!

An absolute highlight of this gorgeous fall was the Great Pumpkin Festival that Whitefish Bay hosts in the park two blocks from our house. We had no idea how amazing it would be (except that everyone kept telling us how amazing it would be!).

Madeline and Charlie both choose a pumpkin from the lot and we carved them in a special tent. Little by little, as the sun went down, the entire community spilled into Old Schoolhouse Park, until it was teeming with hundreds of kids. Bulbs were strung in the trees and it smelled like kettle corn, caramel apples and fried fish. Mads, Charlie and John played with all their friends from school, danced to live music, and climbed on 1,000 pound pumpkins. The carving and entertainment continued for five nights, and by the end of the festival, there were hundreds of jack-o-lanterns lit up on bleachers.

Even Maple got in on the fun! She was in a pooch parade wearing her blow fish costume (now her second parade appearance!) -- we started at the Festival site and ended at the specialty dog store near our house. We even had our own police escort!