Chris and I hit the road for a college reunion thing where we thought we could schmooze and see old friends. But it turned out to be a big bust. Anyway, we were walking around our old college campus, when I realized I needed a photo right here, at the scene of the infamous Hot Dog Cart Incident.
We made it.
Between Neko's desire to be a pink mermaid (and the costume industry's less-than-pure concept of what a "youth mermaid" costume should look like) and Shep's desire to be WALL-E (as, apparently, did half of America…not a costume to be found), we were a bit challenged this year. I worked on finding and altering the most appropriate mermaid costume out there. Tom put his design degree to work, and fabricated Shep's whole costume. Ellery got to be a turtle, because, well, we had a turtle costume on hand.
As we don't live in much of a neighborhood, we had to find a place to trick-or-treat. We were looking for a short-ish street. Enough houses to make the kids feel fulfilled, but not enough to keep us out too late. Poor Akiko…we ended up in her neighborhood. As did many others. I promise we'll stalk someone else's neighborhood next year so your neighbors don't grumble. But I think it speaks highly of her neighborhood! I do get the occasional pang for suburban living, and Halloween often brings it on.
Anyway, a suddden blast of warm weather and sneaking in Halloween just days be daylight saving time ended, we had a perfect evening out.
I'll apologize to Tom in advance for that picture of he and Ellery, where he looks like he's air-kissing, but it's the only one I have with Ellery. And, as a third child, I fear that 12 years from now someone will give me hell because she's photographically missing in Halloween '08. Thanks for taking one for the team.
Shep's class went on a field trip today. Susie and I left Alex and Ellery with Papa Joe so our boys could have our full attention for a change.
Although it was freezing, we had a great time petting animals and being "little farmers".
I probably could have spent an hour taking pictures of the old farm equipment and tools. I've already located that old egg scale on ebay…
We didn't carve pumpkins last year. Life was really busy and things were hectic and then all of a sudden I realized the season had passed and we missed it.
I think it had to do with the fact that I had in my head that we'd take this glorious trip to a pumpkin patch and pick pumpkins and then go home to carve. But we're busy, and we just didn't have that block of time before Halloween arrived. But I noticed we had tonight open. Just an hour or so, but it was open. So I wrote it on the schedule.
After Tom got home from work, we scooped the kids up and drove them out to a nearby farm. Not a pick-your-own, but they were a place. With pumpkins. The kids giddily ran from one to the next, trying to pick the best one.
After dinner, we got to work. I was amazed to discover that, short of the actual carving, Neko can fully participate. She drew the face, and scraped out the guts. Then she carefully supervised as Tom carved.
Shep told Tom exactly what he wanted his to look like, and Tom helped him draw and carve. Ellery happily sat in a chair and passed around tools and experimented with how the top of her pumpkin could go on and off.
The evening was downright blissful. And we need to do more of this. Some nights we need to ignore bath and proper bedtime and do something as a family. And we might have to schedule it weeks in advance, but I will squeeze it in.
And you all would be so proud—my flash went crazy right as I got out my camera, so I took it off and just did the best I could. They're grainy and kind of weird colors, but hooray for me snapping a few bad photos, putting the camera down, and going back to the act of participating.
The pumpkins from left to right, Tom, Wendy, Ellery, Shep, and Neko.
It's taken us a while to get to chapter books. Neko, as we know, is a bit wiggly, and had a some trouble sitting still through longer stories. Especially when they had few pictures.
When I started thinking about the ones that would be a good fit, I ultimately decided on The Littles. In case you didn't read them as a kid, they are a community of people only six inches tall. They live in the walls of people's houses, but the people don't know they exist. They use what the big people discard to live, and in exchange, they maintain the house—the pipes, the wiring, and all the inner workings. They go on all sorts of adventures, all made even more interesting due to their size.
There are about a dozen Littles book. I remember pouring through them as a kid, always thinking that there might be that slight chance a little family was living in the walls of our house.
Neko has been taken completely by the Littles. We finished the first book, and are anxiously awaiting a delivery from Amazon to bring us the next.
Did your computer just go into overload? Sorry about that. But when you get kids, horses, dogs, a rustic farm, and pumpkins all in one place, it's hard to edit photos.
For the past several years Beth A. and her mom Lynne and sister Amy have invited us up to Lynne's farm for a fall get-together. They painstakingly put together a scavenger hunt where the kids follow clues to find pumpkins. We crunch our way through the woods and the adults catch up while the kids run as fast as we'll let them.
The day always includes rides on a horse or pony, fabulous food, and some sort of crafty fun. This year Anne, John, and Ronan joined in.
I can't think of a more perfect way to run headlong into fall.
Props to Beth for taking nearly all these photos. I actually got to relax and enjoy the walked while she snapped and I tred to talk she and Dave into making their next camera an SLR.
There has always been a farmer's market in this little town, but this year it feels like there was a shift—something good is brewing up at the market. More vendors. Plenty of variety. The french pastry chef, who may be personally responsible for my thwarted efforts to lose weight this summer. The Indian cook who takes Tom's orders for traditional Indian breakfast dishes. We buy eggs and chicken, knowing that each were produced under the best possible conditions. There are even a few artisans selling pottery and funky aprons. I love to see our community investing in our local abundance.
But my favorite part of the market? The people. It's becoming a hub for good folk to come together and catch up while they gather local produce. I love that the faces become more familiar each week. Shep is my enthusiastic shopper, who begins snacking on the produce before money has even exchanged hands. Neko often parks herself at the coffee stand to tell Bree all about her latest insect find or favorite dinosaur.
When I have bit more time on my hands, I feel this is a local endeavor where my time and talent would be well spent. In the meantime, I will mark my calendar for the once-a-month winter market which will carry me through the snowy months.
On a whim, I threw a bowl of edamame on the table at dinner. I had little hope, as anything that hits the table that doesn't resemble macaroni and cheese or chicken nuggets is being met with a big frown.
But omigosh, they ate it up. Hooray for the occasional streak of food diversity!
Someone stole the Obama sign out of our yard.
Karma. It's a bitch. I will be thinking about my sign-stealing friend on November 4th.
I declare Farm Day 6 a success—a perfect fall day. We are lucky to be surrounded by such amazing people, both family and friends. A special big shout-out to Bryan and Amy (and Matt and Sophie), for traveling the farthest to join us. One from each coast.
The only thing I ask is that next year, someone needs to detach my children from me for 20 minutes so I can run around and take photos. At the end of the night, this picture of Ronan was one of the few sitting in my camera.
Farm Day 7 is October 10, 2009. Mark your calendars!