Patch Punkin' Attempt

Last week I looked around and thought the tissue paper flowers dotting the windows of our apartment from the Spring were looking a little dated. Gosh, we were so excited when the Spring weather started to pop last March following a cold Belgian Winter. We broke out the pipe cleaners and crepe paper with creative glee! Where did the Summer go?
But we took the flowers down. A new season is upon us. Connor thought the flowers were pounce-able toys! And now I am trying to think out another craft to give our home some Autumn life. (Let me know if you have any ideas!)
As a Fall surprise Dallas brought Connor this baby pumpkin. Pumpkins - the carveable kind - are a rarity here. Seeing friend's Facebook shots of their kids in the pumpkin patches back in America made me homesick!
Then I came across this Brussels newsletter and was excited to see the orange photos in hopes we might find this festive place to embrace pumpkins and feel the Fall.
It looked very promising! The article was all about a famous backyard pumpkin grower/seller in Duisburg - about 30 minutes away. She opened her patch up for customers everyday. Perfect. I immediately packed Connor up in the car after her nap and we made a beeline to the pumpkin patch. However when we arrived the home was very normal and low key - no extra activity or harvest bustle. My heart sunk. Yet I had gotten there through rush hour traffic and I wasn't going to let the chance pass us by. I rung the doorbell. This lady from the newsletter answered...

...aha! I was in the right place. But it wasn't long til I learned that the pumpkin sale had been the month of SEPTEMBER, not OCTOBER. Oops. Isn't October pumpkin month?!?! Who has heard of September pumpkins?!? And the MONTH was a detail they conveniently left out of the newsletter. Ugh. So embarrassing. There I was with my camera ready and my child ready for pumpkins on this poor lady's doorstep! Thankfully she was as kind as can be and spoke pretty good English. She opened the garage and there were these 2 pumpkins left over from September she offered us. I was so speechless that I just bought a couple of gourds, said thank you, and left ASAP.

But the precious thing about kids is that they don't have any expectations about holidays and traditions. They are happy for whatever transpires. Connor LOVED the gourd pumpkins. She held them tight on the way home.

And at home she connected them with Dallas' pumpkin and spontaneously named them 'Mama,' 'Daddy,' and 'Baby' Pumpkins!

Not exactly what I had in mind, but it ended up even more fun! Welcome Fall!!! No Jack-o-lanterns for us this year, but Mama, Daddy and Baby pumpkins have moved in and are doing just fine.

PS - Connor couldn't seem to call our trip to the "pumpkin patch" - instead it was always to the "patch pumpkin" --- inspiring the name for this post.