The Pumpkin ... Garden

On Wednesday we visited Auntie Andrea who had treated Beatrice to a bag full of goodies...included amongst them was this pumpkin dress and doodleboppers.  Bea hastily pulled it on and bounced about the house.  This was a PERFECT gift, because that very evening we headed out to the Pumpkin Patch....

...where we discovered a cheeky monkey hiding amongst the pumpkins!

There was food to be enjoyed (even if you weren't in costume)

For the third evening in a row Alana appeared in costume.  Monday night she was a rather jolly witch, Tuesday...a cat and just as Cinderella held back the most gorgeous dress for the third and final night of the ball....so did Alana...

Ta dah...a princess and two pumpkins!

There was colouring in to be done as the girlies made pumpkin cards...

There was orange paint to create family pumpkin prints...The Scarlett's extended to two pages...but that's just showing off!

There were marshmallow ghosts to eat...

And chocolate apples to make...Caleb is saying "Ooooooh" in delight here....

There was also dunking for apples...or as Bea calls it....duck, duck apple.

Thankfully, Zachary wore his waterproof mascara!

(may I just add...Bea's nails...by Mels)

So proud!

Then it was time to settle down to hear Ruth read the Pumpkin Patch Parable.

At the end of the story, the pumpkins began to glow....

Then there was just time to pop outside to watch the firework display.  

I may just leave you under the impression that the church actually put on a firework display...I don't really need to mention that we watched the Mossley Mill fireworks from the car park!

Then on Thursday night, we headed to the Enchanted Garden at Botanic.  We were promised real fairies and the promise didn't disappoint...

Beatrice found a fairy village....

I don't actually know what this is, but Bea thinks it is a real fairy going tiny.

The Enchanted Garden was magical.  There were real fairies dancing about in a glowing fairy circle who popped over to the fence from time to time to talk to the children and try to catch their wishes.  Bea clung to the fence shouting "fairy, fairy, fairy, fairy..." until they came to her.

A real fairy catching wishes under the trees

There were odd characters, one had a giant lantern with faires he had caught, others told stories about the fairies they had seen and one even rode a giant bicycle that looked like a pony!  If you want to be sure to see a fairy one character advised, be sure to look into a mirror...you will see one reflected more quickly than you will see one with your own eyes!

Hidden in the flower beds were glowing lanterns and tiny fairy villages with washing lines heavy with fairy laundry, plus there were a lot of wooden fairy houses (that looked a bit bird boxy if I'm honest) that when you peeped through the little circle were beautifully furnished, illuminated and accessorised.  (Being familiar with their catalogue, I suspect that fairies shop at the Dolls House Emporium).

A blurry fairy washing line

Now being a geographer I'm going to talk about scale for a moment.  The fairy villages, houses and washing lines were in 1:12.  The real fairies, skipping about on the lawn were definitely 1:1.  

Beatrice asked....

"Mummy are these those fairies' houses"  (insert appropriate pointing)  

"Yes"   

"How do they fit?"  

"Hum, how do you think they fit?" 

 "I don't know"   

"Well, ask Daddy, he is very clever"  

"Daddy how do the fairies fit into the houses?"  

Daddy replies "magic".  

Bea is completely satisfied with this explanation, and I am proved correct...Daddy is very clever.

As we were about to leave, we wandered over to the glasshouse where we saw Edith, a clunky accented girl with fairy wings, twirling around in a hoop which was cycled around the circular flower bed.  As she twirled she carried on an hysterical conversation with the children...."What do you mean I'm not a real fairy...look I'm flying....I spent £4 on glitter last night to make these wings sparkle...I'll grant you any wish...provided we can pop down to the corner shop to get it!"  Despite the rain, Bea wanted to watch Edith "forever".

Edith can really fly.... 

See....

So if you've ever wondered what a real fairy looks like...the answer is a bit like Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter.  If you've even wondered what she sounds like...the answer is a Yorkshire lass....If you've ever wondered how she flies...the answer is a hoop, a bicycle and amazing arm muscles.