Little Pumpkins

Yesterday seemed like it was going to be last nice fall day, so we decided to take a family outing to Applewood Orchard in hopes of snapping a few cute fall pics.  I dressed the boys in their new "Mommy's Little Quarterback" outfits from grandma, and Steve brought his high school football jersey and a ball!

I should have worn a clown wig because taking these guys anywhere is like being a sideshow circus act!  As you can rightly imagine, the orchard was busy, being 60 degrees and sunny on a Sunday afternoon.  There were families and children everywhere, climbing on a hay bale pile, weaving through the pumpkins, lining up for hayrides, eating apple brats (our soon-to-be-lunch) and, it seemed, they were all STARING AT US.

We tried to be inconspicuous.  No one was in the pumpkin section, so we started there.  They looked so cute sitting in the pumpkin patch, holding the football!  But of course they wouldn't smile.  And anyone who's tried to get one baby to look at a camera can imagine what it's like to get TWO babies to look at a camera!

But we got one!

The pumpkin section got full as onlookers watched our performance and others just wanted to look at the pumpkins we were using.  So we decided to try some shots in the sun on the hay bales, which had emptied of children because the hay ride was loading up new riders.

I should have known it was a bad idea.  The second, and I mean, the SECOND we tried posing the boys, a kid ran to the top of the bales, screaming at the top of his lungs, "MOM! DAD! COME HERE! TWINS!  TWINS!  THERE ARE BABY BOY TWINS HERE IN THE HAY!  THEY'RE REALLY CUTE!  HURRY!  THEY'RE TAKING PICTURES!"

Steve and I tried to take a couple shots.  They look like this:

Matthew thinks it's pretty fun.

The light was poor (it's about high noon, after all...any photographer in his right mind wouldn't shoot then), the blanket was ugly, and we noticed there were bugs buzzing around their heads, so we aborted the haystack scene.  With even more intensity, the kid started screaming "MOM! DAD!  HURRY!  THE TWINS ARE GOING AWAY!"  I finally looked up at him. He was  maybe 7 and cute as a bug.  He asked politely, "Are they twins?" 

We had just 15 minutes until their regularly scheduled naptime, but we felt we hadn't taken the shot we were hoping for.  So back to the shade and the pumpkin section for a few more. 

Here's our best shot of Nathan...future QB for sure!

Needless to say, the boys were running out of steam and it was getting chilly.  We wrapped up pretty quickly and went inside to purchase a 'harvest' of Honeycrisp apples and cider.

All in all, the entire outing took less than an hour, but it was well worth it for a few cute photos and a bundle of memories.  But we're not going to start a new photography business anytime soon!

Added bonus: they were pooped and slept all afternoon and through the night again.  Can't wait to do this again next year!

Matthew loved it!