A New York Autumn

I love that my husband's birthday is in October and that he is as much of a traditionalist as I am.  :)  When possible, we like to take a trip up north to celebrate, and with two other family birthdays near his, it works out well!

October in New York is simply beautiful.  The colors tend to peak around Columbus Day or the weekend after, and it's usually crisp enough for jackets and wood fires.  This trip, Mom and I took Gemma Grace on a little day trip to Vermont, too!  We visited some of our old favorites--Merck Forest, Stewart's, and even did a little thrifting.

We love this place!  (And Gemma's hat from last year still fits!  I love it so much!) 

In addition to a network of hiking trails and campsites, Merck Forest has a working farm.  Mom carried Gemma the half-mile walk to the farm on her back in our soft carrier, and we got there in time for afternoon chores.  

They let us in with the piglets!  When we held still, the piglets did come over to say hi, but of course our little piglet didn't stay still for very long, so the others retreated around the barn.  

She loved the chickens!  She kept saying "hi!" and "tee tee tee!" to them, though I didn't do an excellent job catching it on video.  At one point, she kept peeking in the little hole they were coming out, and then she tried to squeeze inside the fence!

The next stop was a thrift store, where I bought Gemma a pair of pink dress shoes a few sizes too big for $1.  She had great fun trying on them, her rubber boots, and the soft little leather shoes which were also in the car with us!

At Stewart's, Mom let Gemma have a taste of her milk shake.  

Do you think she wanted to give it back???