Halloween... or the one night a year when you expect your kids to pretend to be someone else and beg for food.

Happy Halloween to all!

This was a fun year. We took Alayna to Forest Grove to do the Trick-or-treat downtown, followed by some more trick-or-treating . It was great fun to see all the kids (and adults) in their costumes. We saw an ATM machine, a laundry basket, and both Mario and Luigi. But wait, before we get there, we must start with Lisa's party last weekend, and the pumpkin carving Friday night...

My friend Lisa's Dad has a small garden (only about 10 acres), and he grows all kinds of wonderful things, like pumpkins. So every year they bring home a bunch of pumpkins and have their friends over to help dispatch them.

Alayna got to carve her own pumpkin, with a little help.


There were some very creative carvers...

And some very large pumpkins...

After most of the carving was done, it was time for the pumpkin roll. We rolled or threw pumpkins down through the woods to see how far they could go. Some of them made it pretty far, and the largest ones made very nice splats against the trees.

Friday night, we carved pumpkins with Mom, Dad, Jen and Roger. We carved some good ones, too.

Ok, back to Halloween...
Main street in Forest Grove was quite busy. The fire department was giving out glow sticks for all the kids to use when they went out later after dark. I think most of the town was there. It was a lot of fun.

Back in May, Alayna had a part in the Broadway show at church. We made her a poodle skirt for the show, so, voila, instant Halloween costume.

We all dressed up a little. Mom wore her pumpkin shirt, and Hannah (Jen and Roger's dog) wore the pumpkin hat until she managed to get it off her head.

After taking all of FG's candy, we moved on to my parent's neighborhood. She only hit a few houses, but it was enough for a six year old and her family.

The Great Pumpkin Adventure 2009

It's October, and a sunny day in the midst of a lot of rain, so, the only thing to do is to go to a pumpkin patch, get a little muddy, and pick a pumpkin, or seven. We found a great, new (to us) pumpkin patch in North Plains. It's called Lakeside Farms, and is, surprisingly enough, located next to a large pond they call a lake. It was a lot of fun.


You could walk to the patch, but, as they have a lake, there is a better way to travel:
There were two lake monsters and a shark that came out of the water next to the boat, and a little stand with pirates and a cannon.


On the way back, we took the train, which was also very fun.

There was a great bunch of old farm equipment that was probably full of germs, but the photo op was too great to pass up. So, here's Alayna on a tractor...

... and an old wagon.

There were even pony rides. Alayna's pony was named Raven. He was a very nice pudgy pony.


Alayna getting a wheel-barrow ride on some of the pumpkins.


Once Jen and Roger added their pumpkins to the wheelbarrow, we had a good pile. It was a great pumpkin day.