The Accidental Boilermaker

Halloween was a success! Jameson got a little grumpy in the afternoon; I think mainly because he was told he needed to wear pants (not shorts) if he wanted to play outside. But he recovered. He also decided he wanted to be Pugsley again for trick or treating, not his Halo costume. So that meant we could get Nate to dress up as Gomez again too.  We got lots of compliments on our family costume so that was fun. We walked around for a little over an hour. We were all getting chilly and a few of us were complaining our feet hurt. Evelyn and Jameson got more than enough candy too. We got home in time for Evelyn to help hand out candy. We only got 60 trick or treaters. I bought way too much candy.

 Today was a busy day. My dad and I did a trail race at Fox Island county park in the morning. It was perfect weather and despite all the rain we’ve received, the trails were in good condition. I took 20th out of 41 runners and 4th out of 4 in my age group. In the afternoon Evelyn had her first piano recital. It was quite the event with 31 students performing. Evelyn did a great job. She made a small mistake, took a moment to collect herself and then finished her piece. It was fun to hear all the different songs played by students of all ages.  It was a long concert and everyone was patient and well behaved so we got ice cream as a treat. Then cupcakes for an extra treat at home. 

We carved pumpkins today after school. Grandpa George carved Jameson’s ghost pumpkin. I carved Evelyn’s witch cat. Evelyn really wanted to carve her pumpkin but it’s hard with stencil and the serrated knife and they picked such big pumpkins. So I let her and Jameson design my pumpkin. Evelyn did the eyes and nose and Jameson did the mouth. And a picture from Jameson’s fall party. 

 Nate played guitar at church and I took the kids to the zoo. It was a perfect fall day and the zoo was busy. There were lots of giant pumpkins. And fun games and prizes.  It was also truck and tractor day.  We also rode the ponies. Jameson got to do the pony ride as a part of zoo camp and Evelyn was disappointed because she still has her neck collar on and we told her she had to wait until it came off. Also the pony ride will not be a zoo attraction next year so now was the time.  There were also some fun hay bale sculptures.  And more tractors.  We saw some animals too. Actually lots of animals; sometimes by October many animals are inside or have the choice to be inside if the temperatures are cool. 

 The cider mill had an apple pressing today and Evelyn has been asking to see one. And get kid cider. So we went. It is always fun to watch and buy a gallon of fresh pressed cider   Then we worked on Evelyn and Jameson’s literary pumpkin (paint or otherwise decorate a pumpkin as your favorite book character). We weren’t going to do one; it’s an optional, school wide activity and they said they didn’t want to do it. But then we had a kindergarten zoom with the principal and she practically guilt tripped us into making one! So Evelyn and Jameson decided it would be fun to turn a pumpkin into Curious George. It was kinda fun and a lot of work, but he did turn out great. I’m not sure how well he’ll make the trip into school but that’s Monday’s problem.

 Our neighborhood had a block party/food truck rally/costume contest tonight. Evelyn changed her mind and instead of being Frida Kahlo for Halloween she wanted to be Wednesday Addams. One trip to Goodwill and I had costumes for all of us to dress up as the Addams Family. Jameson’s “real” costume isn’t Pugsley but he agreed to do it for the contest.  I actually “sewed” the white collar on Evelyn’s dress. You maybe can’t tell from the picture, but I had no idea what I was doing. Nate had the idea to stuff a pillow up Jameson’s shirt since Pugsley is a little bigger than he is.  There was music and some games. Evelyn’s friend McKenzie was there too. We signed up for the costume contest as a family under the adult category instead of individually as a girl, a boy and two adults. It may have given us an edge on winning but McKenzie’s dad organized the whole thing and he told us it was ok.  And we won! The prize was a bottle of Captain Morgan which Evelyn was not happy abo...

 Today was a first for us. Bella invited Evelyn to Lincoln Ridge Farms’ fall festival, but Jameson was not included. It struck me as odd (and I’ll admit my feelings were a little hurt on behalf of Jameson) because we tend to do a lot of things together as a family with the Codys, but I also know that eventually Evelyn and Jameson won’t want to do everything together.  Nate and I discussed it a great lengths and decided to let Jameson decide if he was basically ok with not being invited. If he felt sad and really wanted to go, I’d just ask Maryca if the three of us could come. His initial reaction seemed to be one of surprise he wasn’t included but after hearing a list of fun things he could do instead, Jameson decided he wanted to stay home while Evelyn went. This morning he listed everything he wanted to do: go in the hot tub, ride his bike on the trails, go play putt putt, and get ice cream. We were surprised about putt putt, but decided it was a good alternative to riding h...