8!

Cole turned the big 8 yesterday, and his day started and ended with "pumpkin."

In the morning he had a "pumpkin" donut from Dunkin Donuts, which I would bet had no real pumpkin in it.  And for dessert at night he asked for homemade pumpkin pie, which I made with fresh "pumpkin" -- that actually looked like this:

 Our nearby organic pumpkin patch sell these cushaw squashes as well, and they told us that they made better pumpkin pies than pumpkins do.  So we gave it a try, and all reviews say this is true!

The whole cooking process was fun for Colsen, too -- he loves making things from scratch.  The other big activity he reeeeeeallllly wanted to do on his birthday was to make homemade butter.  So we went to the store, got him some heavy cream, and he had a blast shaking it in a jar.

Other than the "pumpkin" treats and butter, the major highlight of the day was finally getting a pocket-knife.  Wayne and Jo-Ellen said they would get him a first-aid kit to go with it, but Colsen guffawed at that.  Time will tell, I guess...

He has also loved playing with his new rainforest kit from Nonna and Poppa.  He declares it the best thing ever!

So far 8 is looking good!