I took Thursday off to spend the day with kiddo. One of her FAVORITE things is back in town, and I wanted to be there with her when she went for the first time this year. 

The Scarecrow Festival at Shangri La Botanical Gardens in Orange, Texas.

Kiddo loves the scarecrows, and this is usually our official beginning of fall family activity. We spent a few hours looking at the scarecrows, and were shocked that there were so many more this year. (Over 60!) All of the people who put these together are way more creative than I can ever aspire to be. 

We didn't spend too much time looking around the gardens themselves (which are gorgeous!) because kiddo had to hang out with her favorite scarecrows. She danced for them. She sang for them. She didn't want to leave them to go to lunch at her favorite Mexican restaurant where we are more family than customers with the owners. 

Voting is taken VERY seriously. 

If you go to Two Amigos, and you should, get the Skinny Special. There is nothing skinny about it (just named for the chef), and you will love every bite of it. Unless you hate spicy things. Then you won't like it so much. It's grilled chicken, jalapenos, and cheese wrapped in bacon. YUM! 

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After lunch, I wanted to surprise kiddo with a trip to a pumpkin patch. We had some time to kill before it opened, so we made a pass into Port Neches, TX to visit Mike's Old Fashioned Soda Fountain. My folks and taken kiddo before and enjoyed it. I've been dying to go, but haven't had the chance. I was not disappointed. 

This small little shop is extremely charming. From the outside, I wasn't expecting what I got when I opened the doors. I couldn't keep the grin off my face the entire time we were there. In fact, I don't think you can go to Mike's and not be instantly put in a better mood. 

Kiddo LOVES the jukebox and keeps talking about how much she wants to go back and visit it. 

In fact, I had to eat all but one bite of our ice cream cone because she was busy dancing and playing with the jukebox. 

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After our dessert, it was time to hit up the pumpkin patch at one of the churches in Nederland, TX! I wasn't prepared to spend $13 on pumpkins, but kiddo was having such a good time that I let her go a little crazy. She keeps wanting to go back, and I told her that she can only have one small pumpkin on each trip back to the pumpkin patch. I'm convinced she's trying to create her own mini-pumpkin army. 

It was a pretty full day of hanging out around the Golden Triangle area for us today. It was a lot of fun, and I'm sure we'll be headed back to all of these places very soon. Until the next trip, happy exploring!