finally fall!

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year....I start pining for cool weather in about mid-May. By August I'm positively lusting for football, sweaters, coats, jeans, gumbo, and breezy cool days. I have to control myself when September rolls around and I can almost taste fall in the air; I start itching to put out my fall decor and be done with the miserably hot summer. Finally October 1st comes around and the celebration begins!! Right on time we had a cool front come through and Monday started out in the upper 50's!! Glorious perfect weather to be outside. After our morning jog I put Caroline down for a nap and eagerly dug through the closet and pulled out all my fall stuff.

I had forgotten that last year when Mom and I were shopping at the outlet mall in San Marcos I had bought some delightful fall potpurri, so when I opened my box of fall goodies the scent was a welcome breath of fresh air! I put up all my knick knacks and candles and decorations and sat back with a nice cup of coffee and the windows open. Heaven. 

Since the weather's been so divine we've been spending as much time outdoors as possible. On days when Caroline doesn't have school we'll go for a jog in the morning. Then we'll do an afternoon stroll over to the park to enjoy the swings. And when Daddy comes home he usually takes her for an evening jog too, so she's getting plenty of outside time!

With all this fall festivity I decided to make some Butternut squash soup. Seemed appropriate, even though I'd never had Butternut squash before. Cooking the thing warranted a lesson on youtube, since I'm none-too-familiar  with cooking with gourds. I microwaved it, I peeled it, I seeded it, I cubed it, I boiled it in broth for 30 minutes, I pureed it, and finally my soup was ready. Took a big bite and....blaaaaah. Turns out Butternut squash tastes as good as it smells- funky. Since it was such a smooth consistency I decided to see if Caroline would like it....and I'll be damned if the little bugger didn't just love it! 

When life hands you butternut squash....make baby food.

My daughter, who hates 95% of everything I feed her, ate a whole babyfood jar full! So we now have enough Butternut squash baby food to last until next fall. 

Her first home-cooked meal. My soup efforts were not in vain!

Good thing she liked it, because she's not too keen on eating her dinnertime bottle these days. She'd much rather play with the bottle nipple. Highly entertaining.

http://youtu.be/xysGjtGeMvk

And on Sunday we'll be visiting a pumpkin patch for the obligatory 'first Halloween' photos. Weather is supposed to be absolutely perfect...high's in the 70's!! Stay tuned for pics. Happy fall to all!!