My granddaughter will be ten months old this month. The time has flown by! But as she gets a little older, and as fall approaches, I am getting very excited about re-living some of my favorite fall traditions with a little one.

Fall means pumpkins and jack-o-laterns. I remember our annual outings to the pumpkin patch. We’d put on boots and sweatshirts and head down the road on a mission to pick out the best pumpkin ever! Of course, we had two children who each had their own ideas about what the perfect pumpkin should look like, so we typically came home with a few.

We’d drive down the long drive to the pumpkin farm and jump out of the car. The kids would head right to the field hoping to pick up the first pumpkin they saw. As the got older, they became more particular about finding the perfect pumpkin. They’d examine each side trying to determine which side would be best for the face or if the vine left a good enough handle for the lid. Some pumpkins were rejected because they were too small, others sometimes had a flat side.

Once our purchases were made, we’d load all of our pumpkins into the back of the car and head home. The kitchen table became the center of activity as the carving began. We never did anything excessively creative. Our jack-o-laterns mostly had the triangle nose and eyes with the smile exposing a few teeth. There were years, however, when mistakes were made with the carving knife and teeth were accidentally cut off. Those jacks just had great big grins.

The lanterns, after having been carefully carved, were placed out on the front porch with their candles in place. Sometimes the lids burned because the candle was too big or the lid was improperly placed on top. The smell of burning pumpkin would fill the front of the house.

The extra pumpkins, the ones that appeared perfect at the patch, but were rejected after further examination at home, were baked and used for pumpkin breads or pies. Pumpkins are so much a part of fall and fall is such a beautiful time of the year. I cannot wait to share it with my granddaughter!