I was really worried that after the long, hot, dry summer we had, fall would be disappointing. I imagined it still being warm enough to swim during school intersession in October and no pretty leaves at all. Luckily, there has been enough rain to save the leaves, and this past week has been exactly the kind of weather I love for fall – warm days and cool nights. It’s been awesome to have the windows open and the attic fan on in the afternoon when it isn’t raining.

In fact, it’s been damp enough to sprout a fairly epic crop of fungal fruiting bodies, better known to most as mushrooms. We had at least 6 obviously different species of mushroom and two of puffball fungi. I know the puffballs are edible, and I’m pretty sure about two of the mushrooms, but we decided not to risk it this time. V would never eat a mushroom, but Z would not only eat them, she would see them outside and pick and eat them on the spot if we weren’t keeping a close enough eye on her! That’s exactly what she did with the blackberries and mulberries, anyway. Once she she saw the big girls pick some, and we let her pick a few herself, she would slip off to pick and eat more whenever she got the chance. That’s a very bad idea with mushrooms!

When you are cheering and applauding your child finally pooping on the potty! And your husband comes to see what the ruckus is about because he’s worried that said child destroyed something (again…sigh) and you are yelling at her for that. Candy and stickers were enjoyed by all.

We went to the Washington County Fair, mostly for the livestock. It’s funny; the Benton county fair has more handicraft exhibits, but a lot fewer livestock exhibits. The fancy chickens alone take up half a barn at the Washington County Fair. I managed not to come home with a Jersey Wooly rabbit somehow, but I still think they’d be a great alternative to a high-maintenance Angora. I might have coveted a few sheep, too. The girls loved seeing all the animals, and enjoyed the petting zoo too.

But most of us also rode some rides! Poor Z was just a little too short to ride pretty much everything but the merry go round, and was not happy about that. But V not only rode the merry go round and Ferris wheel like she did the last time, she tried the swings and a little roller coaster! We were really proud of her. Daddy rode with her on the roller coaster and that was pretty funny. E and I didn’t ride anything, but E slept in her sling through most of the two and a half hours we were there. I love that thing.

It’s always ok to talk about the weather, right? Especially when it’s the remains of a hurricane, breaking the hot, dry spell I’ve been grumpy with for months? I was so worried when the wind kicked up ahead of the storm bands yesterday, because we have several trees that need to come down. But the winds never did get worse, it RAINED (but not torrentially), and the temperatures have been lovely! Even the cloud cover has been nice. And no trees came down, although we have a few biggish branches down. But without Isaac, it probably would have been a too-hot, dusty day at the fair instead of the lovely, slightly overcast and breezy day we enjoyed.

Like Granny Weatherwax, I’m still kicking, even if you can’t see it from here. Anybody want to rent a toddler for the purposes of talking yourself out of having a baby? Must have exceptional babyproofing!