Halloween Pics

Pumpkin Time!

Nothing says celebration like gutting a gourd.  Which we actually haven't done for several years.  But the trip to Great Country Farms included pie pumpkins (which Michael actually wanted to make into a pie instead of carve), so we decided to do the traditional thing and carve them.

 

First, the boys made their designs.

 Then Jason cut off the tops and the boys got their first look at the ooey-gooey insides.

Next I would like to show you pictures of the boys cleaning the seeds and stuff out of their pumpkins.  But, strangely enough, I don't have any such pictures.  Perhaps it is because no such pictures exist.  Perhaps it is because it never happened.

Perhaps.

Last, Jason carved their designs.  

Fun night!

The Rest of the Weekend

It was an action-packed weekend.  First the bike ride.  Then the ward trunk-or-treat.  Whereat there were hot dogs and it was good.  And there were cupcakes and oreos and it was very good.  

Then there was trick-or-treating and Michael used his Easter basket.  Because that is what you use to go trick-or-treating when you destroy your pumpkin bucket.  It didn't seem to slow him down any.

And then the ward Primary Program.  The best Sunday of the year.  Some will tell you it is the beautiful spirit brought by the testimonies of the sweet children.  I would tell you it is because some of the funniest things happen when you put 50+ kids on the stand for an hour and expect the 4-year-olds to keep it together.  

We were very lucky to have all of our East coast grandparents (and a great-grandparent) in attendance.  The boys all did really well with their parts and we are so proud of them.

The Great Pumpkin Ride

I have this talent, no, let's call it a gift, for choosing races for my family that are held on frigidly cold mornings (see the Primal Mud Run and our 5k one early April morning).  So when the opportunity to sign Michael up for a 3 mile bike ride came along, I signed him up and corralled Nana into going with him.  Lucky Nana.  She keeps claiming that she is going kick the bucket at 68, so I feel the need to cram in as many activities with her and the boys as possible in the limited time we have left.  Or, at least, that's what I told her when she pointed out that either Jason or I could have gone with Michael this morning.  

At 10:15am they were off and about 17 minutes later they were back.  It was a fun morning ride and Michael really had a great time.

Great Country Farms Fall Festival

And another blog post about a Fall activity!  Only this time I upped the ante and brought FIVE kids with me.  

We have traditionally gone to Cox Farms, but with an online deal and Great Country being a little more low-key, it was a perfect fit for our outing.  And we needed an outing because today was a half day of school.  Translation:  all the early morning work of a full day, but with only half the break for me.  And the weather is gorgeous.

A brief run-down of our day:

The Pumpkin Jumpin' Pillow

Tunnel slides.

Rope swing.

Race carts.

 Animals.

The stocks.  

Spider web net.

Corn maze (in which it was surprisingly difficult to get lost at first).

 Hay ride.

A lovely day that left pretty much all of us exhausted.  Okay, it left me exhausted and the kids ready to play some more when we got home.  But, fun.

Whining Not Included

Just kidding - I am going to whine.  Most of the year, I really, really, really don't like living in Virginia.  

Really, really.  

Really.  

We call those times SUMMER and WINTER.  One is unbearably humid and the other is a wet, sopping mess.  Oh, and our house has virtually no insulation.

But then there is a six week period in Spring and another in the Fall when it is completely lovely to be here.  And because I enjoy hiking in this beautiful Fall weather, the boys get to enjoy hiking in this beautiful weather.  Whether they want to or not.  Thus is was they found themselves hiking in Shenandoah National Park (along with everyone else in Virginia and some from Maryland) this morning.

Lucky boys!

My Thoughts on Virginia Driving

1.   Whatever identifiers you have on your vehicle, make sure you are comfortable with other people inserting that information in the following sentence:  "Dumb ______ drivers!"  Information I feel is fair game in that sentence includes: state, religion, political party, if you think the South will rise again and your football team of choice.

2.  All the hooopla about the government shutdown and Syria is just a cover for an even more insidious crisis.  It is happening right under our noses and we don't even notice it.  I am talking about a worldwide shortage of BLINKER FLUID!!!.........What?  What was that?!?!  There is no such thing as blinker fluid?  Then I guess we don't need to conserve it so much and could probably signal when we are going to turn or cut across three lanes of traffic at the last minute to make our exit..  And then continue to worry about the government shutdown and Syria.

3.  Speed limits:
In town = speed limit + 5ish miles per hour
On the highway = speed limit + 10ish miles per hour (although if you are on the beltway early on a Sunday morning speed limit +20 might be a good idea if you value your life)
But, 25mph = 25mph and if you are going down my street, a stately 15mph would be appreciated.

4.  If your life is soooo busy that you feel that you must drive and text at the same time, it is probably time to start cutting some things out of your overly busy schedule.  I would recommend starting with either texting or driving.

5.  If you are going to drive 10-15 miles per hour under the speed limit, make sure you are driving a Subaru. That way the other drivers will pity you and your squirrel-powered engine and realize you are doing the best you can.  If you are driving a sports car or an SUV, the rest of us will just think you are an idiot driver.

Conference Weekend

Saturday
Rocko was bathed in the bathtub (he was terrified) and measured (holy 14 inches, batman!).  Great fun.

And not at all interesting, but Jason and I wallowed in the misery of our respective head colds for most of the day.  So the boys were inside all day.  But they lucked out and spent most of the day playing on the Wii and watching cartoons.  We did not luck out because this turned them into disobedient, grumpy ogres.

Sunday
We dragged the savages to the church to watch the morning session of conference.  It was a mostly empty church which tells me that we are one of only two or three LDS families in our county who don't have cable.  We didn't let that stop us from having the boys sit through two hours of talks.  They did really well.  And then we came home to discover that Rocko had pooped and then spread it all over pretty much every surface in his cage.  Guess he enjoyed that bath more than we thought.  But we decided to put off Bath II until later.

In light of the bad side effects spending all day inside had on the boys, we decided not to make the same bad decision twice and took the boys outside for a walk between sessions of conference.  A walk to the caboose less than a mile away.  So Josh and Michael busted out their Camelbak backpacks and grabbed their walking sticks and off we went!

I have decided that one of the miracles and blessings of the modern era is the digital camera.  Between all the bad pictures I end up taking trying to get "the perfect shot" and all the pictures the boys want me to take of them, I am so thankful that I don't have to think about money slipping away every time I take a picture.  Not that all the pictures that I take of them are bad, but the chances of me getting a picture of all three of them with smiles or, at the very least, natural facial expressions is very small.

I am convinced that requires a professional.  Exhibit A:

I do much better when dealing with just one of them.

(Okay, this picture of Ben was taken earlier in the week, but while we were hanging out on the path Ben had an urgent need to use some indoor plumbing so he and Jason hightailed it back to the house before I got many pictures of him.)

Marathon Boy

Michael earned his marathon charm this morning at running club!  Hooray!  I sat in the car in my pink and orange pirate pajama pants and watched him complete the last lap he needed and then took a picture of the proud boy.  Way to go, Michael!