It's the Great Pumpkin, Braelyn & Gwendolyn

As you can see above, Mom & Dad took the girls to the pumpkin patch this weekend. In fact, the entire McKee clan went together so it was quite the family adventure. But before we get into that, there’s some housekeeping that we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention.

For those of you that don’t know, October is National Spina Bifida Awareness Month. Basically, this is a time to educate others and further understanding about Spina Bifida. It's also a way of celebrating the lives of the 166,000 Americans affected with SB. Yep, Gwendolyn is far from a unique case. In fact, Spina Bifida is the most common permanently disabling birth defect in the United States… Although we must admit that there’s absolutely nothing we consider a “defect” about our little Gwenner.

That being said, in celebration of October Gwen's being featured on this amazing blog: Beyond Measure. The blog's scribe, Cassie, has been such a valued resource for us and if you aren't already a regular reader, we highly recommend it by clicking on the orange "Beyond Measure" link in the previous sentence. Throughout the month, Cassie's showcasing kiddos just like Gwendolyn that have been touched by SB. Needless to say, we were quite touched to find out that Gwen herself would be featured... It is yet another reinforcement of just how special she is, not just to us but to others as well.

Getting back to the big orange squash we mentioned at the top of this post, we're going to reserve the majority of the rest of this space for some photos. After all, you can only use so many words to describe what it was like as the girls discovered pumpkins for the first time.

Wow... We finally took a family photo where everyone's looking at the camera and smiling for once.

Braelyn's still not sure about what these big orange things are.

We can only guess what Gwendolyn's thinking here... But we're pretty sure that it doesn't have anything to do with bobbing for apples.

The Castellanos and the McKees are ready for some real pumpkin fun!

I think THIS is the one for us Mom!

Hey Dad... Your head looks just like this pumpkin!

That's all for now...