unseasonably warm

Rarely do you find 80 degrees in Minnesota in October.  But, this year, we've been given a special treat.  It has taken me a little by surprise.  I'm such a planner.  I already had all our shorts and summer stuff packed away and was ready for sweaters and jeans!  But, we Minnesotans know a good thing when we feel it, so I dug out a few of our summer faves, including...wait for it...sandals!  It feels good to go barefoot again.

Here's how we spent this "unseasonably warm" October afternoon:

snacks on the driveway

Peach painting her pumpkin from the patch

And, yes...she's painting the orange pumpkin....orange.

I tried to explain it to her, but whatever.

Finally, she consented to try some red.

Me trying some funky new angles with my camera.

And I'm quite pleased!

Maybe I'll try to be "out of the box" with my pictures more often.

I was keeping Tulip entertained when I turned to see this.  Now, normally, I wouldn't allow mixing of paints, wiping fingers on khaki shorts or digging in the paint jar with the brush.  

But, a few things crossed my mind:

A:  the paint is almost gone, so who really cares

B:  I buy most of her clothes at garage sales...I think this whole outfit cost 50 cents

C:  we're on the driveway...rain will wash it away

D:  sometimes...just sometimes...it's okay to stray from the rules and do whatever

E:  I want my girls to be respectful, responsible...but I also want them to have the spontaneity to go wherever the wind takes them when just the right opportunity presents itself

F:  making messes is fun and I want them to say that I let them be brave and try new things, even when the results required some work

I've been in a bit of a whatever mood lately, so I let it slide.

You know how they say "give her an inch and she'll take a mile"...? I think that little saying was developed especially for my Peach.  She just went to town with the freedom to take those paints and do her own thing.  

Good thing Hubby wasn't home.  

He would have said that she was "out of control"...and she was...but only a little.  :)

I just kept thinking:  It won't happen every time, sister, so you should really enjoy this.

Tulip stayed busy with these

I have a hundred pictures of her feet, but they are just so stinkin' adorable...how can I resist?

The paints say they are "washable".  We'll see.....

This picture doesn't really do it justice.  The paint was on the bottoms of her sandals, the back of her shorts, all over her shirt, in her hair and down her leg.

And after all that, here's how her masterpiece turned out.  

It is now sitting on the front steps, proudly proclaiming to our neighborhood that a wild, wonderful 2 year old lives here.

I like it.

And at the end of the day, I've come to the conclusion that the decision to let her make an enormous mess was a good one.

Hubby came home and gave Tulip a little ride.

Peach enjoyed what may be one of her last times in the sand box this year.

Tulip drooled over an apple slice as we all breathed in the beautiful fall air and thanked the good Lord that winter is still a ways away.