Crowds and caramel apples...

Since there's no telling when winter will rear it's ugly head around here, we've been trying to enjoy the beautiful fall weather as much as we can, while we can.

Yesterday the temperature was absolutely perfect, and to celebrate, we met the Wheatleys and Maudsleys at Gardner Village (much to our husbands' dismay) to walk the shops and snap gazillions of pictures.

Unfortunately we missed the "Witches Night Out" memo, so not only did we feel underdressed, we were also forced to battle hundreds of costume-clad women for breathing space.

The people-watching turned out to be most enjoyable.

The witch getups were fantastic.

 Lola insisted on getting her face painted with pink glitter, so we handed over the cash and sat her down in the makeup chair.

The enthusiasm came to a crashing halt, however, the moment the artist tried to touch her with the glitter brush.

She was content with just a little dab of glitter on her arm, and I was content to get our money back.

Win, win.

Let's be perfectly honest -- the main reason we (the moms) go to Gardner Village is to take pictures.

And it's clear that I will do almost anything for a good photo.

My children are going to need some intense therapy after this year's excursion.

 Three cheers to our husbands for being incredibly good sports about the whole thing.

Reece didn't even whine once.

He's happy as long as he has his buddies to suffer alongside him.

 We rounded out our festive evening by making apple pie caramel apples.

Not an easy task, let me assure you.

Thank heaven for AJ, who knows how to dip an apple in caramel and make it look good too.

 Oh how I love this time of year.