Hello, Fall.

Hello, Fall. We have missed you. We welcome you. And we are happy to let you kick this sweltering heat where the sun shines too much and show us many reasons to snuggle close. And please don't come and go like you so often do, one foot always over the threshold. Stay a while, at least until the sweat has evaporated from our skin, our tans have faded and I've made use of my "winter clothes".

We are still high on sugar. I expect this to last until the new year. After the last Halloween wrapper is tossed, it will be pecan and pumpkin pie, followed by gingerbread cookies and candy canes. All washed down with hot cider and cocoa. This is okay. I can convince myself that eating for two is not a myth some old wives made up. It's a fact and it's a holiday and the baby is hungry, you know.

We pace ourselves, one chocolate at a time. I didn't say anything about one chocolate per sitting. Just that we're not ramming more than one at a time into our faces. Each piece deserves it's glory.

Jack has an earache. If the wind so much as blows the wrong way, Jack is in tears. So we caved and medicated. We'd love to coop up all sick-like on the sofa and watch old movies all day, but old movies don't stimulate that little brain. So we threw a hat over his ears and went to the Lady of the Lakes Renaissance Festival.

Jose has been wanting to buy a baby kilt since he found out I was pregnant with round one. The festival offered a huge selection of kilts. And when you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to want the matching sporin, the sword, the leather cuffs and the sword holder to go along with it. For those of you who don't know, a sporin is a purse. For a man. Men can wear sporins.

The little swinging of his sword was cute until he struck my patellar reflex. OW!

I had my first chocolate-caramel-peanut-covered-apple for the very first time this year. I don't know why I waited so long. Maybe it always seemed like too much work, biting into a hard apple to satisfy my sweet tooth, messy chocolate all over the face, peanuts in my teeth and sticky caramel fingers. The same reason why a girl wouldn't eat corn on the cob on a date. Foolish. Nonsense. Garbage. The moral: don't be stupid.

I waited until we were parking to let Jose in on the secret I was keeping. Yes, you can dress up. I know Jose would have found his viking hat and boots and kilt and peasant shirt and he would have come up with a weapon to carry. But we had errands to run before the festival and Halloween is over and I just didn't want to walk around with my obnoxious husband in a kilt... with a weapon. I'm sorry Honey, but not really.

But dressing Jack up is COOL. People all over the park were stopping to take his picture. He didn't hesitate to stab them with his new sword. And that was even more cute.

And I bet Jose wishes he could have showed up with these guys. In costume. Please understand why I didn't want to parade around town looking like a pregnant beer wench with my knees exposed to the cold. Next year, maybe.

I interrupt this entry to announce a very important message: I FOUND BLUEBERRY COBBLER! I had my husband screech to a halt in the car to run in and buy one. This little old lady pulls it fresh out of the oven and hands it over. Hot. And first thing tomorrow, I'm going to buy cottage cheese to go on top. Trust me, it's better than pickles and ice cream.

This is where we found it. Right next to this awesome German bakery, where we loaded up on bear claws and eclairs. This perfect little place where we threw in some peach butter and homemade peanut butter pretzels, is where you will find the best blueberry cobbler in the state.

Next May, long after Fall takes his bow and the sunshine takes over, we will come here. One blue bundle and one rambunctious tot, to pick fresh organic blueberries. We'll stay a while. Sit with the old lady. Drink some coffee. Buy some Amish cheese and fresh veggies. So much to look forward to next year.

But I'm loving this year and this part of the year. I think this is the best part. Family, food and festivities that bring us closer always fill up our glasses with love and belonging. And we're going to wrap it up nicely, like a present, to be stored away for future walks down memory lane.