Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween!

Sir Rowan and Orin the Orca had a great time

wandering around our neighborhood trick-or-treating.

Their favorite part was a man dressed up as a warewolf

who sat perfectly still in a chair in his yard

and only moved when you got close to him.

Scary!

Now we are fully supplied with enough 

candy to last us until next year (quite literally).

Zoned Out

We went to the Mac Store today and totally

lost Orin to a new program

called Disney's Digital Books. 

October Snow Storm

Who knew?

6 inches of snow in October!

Certainly not the trees...

This tree at my mother's house was only one of many

that toppled due to the weight of the snow on their leaves.

Snowmen

Hook Dilemma

Casey has been working on Martha's Vineyard for the past week...

well, working and fishing, depending on the time of day.

Anyway, this morning he was packing up his things to come home

and one of his fishing hooks went through his finger.

He wasn't able to get it out

and didn't want to go to the hospital on the Vineyard,

so instead he worked a full day with the hook in his finger.

When he got home we tossed around some ideas

about what to do about the hook

(try to tear it out without something to numb the pain,

leave it in and call it a new fashion statement, etc.)

and finally settled on heading up to Dean's hospital for a late-night visit.

As it turned out, it was a very good idea we chose to go to Dean

because it ended up taking three different attempts

before the hook finally came out. 

Thanks Dean!

Slide Show

Pumpkins!

Chocolate Face

Bye bye bike trip

Here is a picture from a walk we took

around the grounds of our hotel

(absolutely beautiful!)

right before my sister and Ardian left to catch their plane.

The ride!

This morning we woke up early

and put on some extra layers to protect ourselves

from the chilly first hours of the day 

(it was 39 degrees when we set off!)

The ride was stunningly beautiful

and (thank goodness!) totally flat.

I made it through the entire 42 mile loop

although by the last few miles I lost any desire to sit down

(next time I am going to put a pillow in my pants)

We have already decided to make this ride a tradition

and next year my sister will get to ride with us too.

I love this picture because

if you look up in the top right corner,

you can just make out a bald eagle sitting on the 

edge of the wooden structure.

V is for vulture

Here is one of the first sites we took in on the day of the ride:

a turkey vulture taking a sun bath.

Why do turkey vultures take sun bathes, you might wonder...

Don't worry, I looked it up for you.

"Turkey vultures eat road kills and other dead animals. 

Their feet, beaks and feathers are often contaminated with 

bacteria from the often long-dead animals. 

Sunning themselves allows the sun’s ultraviolet rays to kill the bacteria."

So this picture is of the beautiful death of some 

nasty bacteria.

Long live the clean-up crew!

Dude in Shades

Here is Mr. Ardian again,

in case the first photo was too far away.

Baby Ardian and Auntie Reunite!

This weekend my sister, mother, and I 

had a girl's weekend in Maryland.

The original purpose of the weekend was to 

ride in the "Wild Goose Chase"

a bike ride around the Blackwater Nature Preserve in Maryland

that raises money for the preserve.

The Wild Goose Chase was my first "real ride"

(over 20 miles)

so I was excited and a bit nervous 

(mainly for my butt).

The first 2 days we stayed at my mother's house in Maryland

and walked around her new town,

going to the farmer's market, eating at the cute mom-and-pop

restaurants, and just having lady-time.

It was during these days that I completely neglected

to take out my camera, so this is from a bit later,

but it is what I looked like for the first two days anyway,

stubbornly refusing to let Ardian out of my arms.

Afternoon group nap

Plashes Pond

This is of the pond across our street.

We are so lucky to live so close to something this beautiful.

One from the vault

I forgot to take pictures again...

(for 5 days!)

so I am going to supplement a little 

from the last couple of months.

This shot is from the Cranberry Festival.

Orin and Rowan are watching the band

and Orin has just put his hand on Rowan's arm

to ask him if he wants to dance.

Rowan's response?

"No."

My favorite thing about this picture are the capes.

Pumpkin Paley

Oh yes I did.

It was only $2.99,

and don't you think it was completely worth it?

Fall Lillies

I am cheating again, can you tell?

This picture was from our family fishing trip
but I forgot to take one yesterday so here you go.

Wellfleet Oyster Feast

Today we went to the Wellfleet Oyster Festival

which is a surprisingly popular festival
despite the fact that there is not much to do there
except to eat oysters,
and, of course, pose in an oyster shell.

Bye Kirby

It has recently come to our attention that one of our "hens"

is not very hen-like.
Namely, "she" has beautiful dangling tail feathers
and crows.
Because we are not allowed to have roosters,
I posted an ad for Kirby
which was answered by a very nice lady in South Plymouth
who has a flock of 9 hens that are looking for their perfect man.
Kirby fit the bill nicely and so today we parted ways
with our best looking bird.
We will miss Kirby dearly, but the lady has told us
we can visit him anytime so maybe we will meet again some day.

Snuggle Bugs Part 2

It should be noted that in both cases,

(Snuggle Bugs 1 & 2)
there was only one party interested in the snuggle session
and that party was the same in both shots.
Can you guess who?

October Afternoons in the Sun

Snuggle Bugs

Family Fishing Trip

Cans to Knight

In order to make money for the new toys he wants
Orin collects cans from the seltzer water
his daddy drinks cases of every week at work.
When he has returned enough cans,
he gets to pick out a new toy.
His latest choice was knight armor.
It came today.
Can I just say I love the combination of the armor
and the pajama pants?

Top Bunk King

Yesterday we borrowed Colleen and Cody's truck
to go pick up a new sliding door.
On the way to the store, we passed a tag sale
that was selling one of the third wheel bikes
I had been looking for, so we stopped.
Before I wrote the check,
I noticed this propped up against the tree
(not assembled obviously).
They wanted $20.
We couldn't pass it up.
After we finished installing the new door
we put Orin's new bed together.
He insisted on sleeping on the top,
so we are making the bottom bed into his "fort."

To say he is excited about his new bed
would be a serious understatement.

Orin's culinary choices

Today Orin and I sat down to eat
a lunch of mac-and-cheese with peas and orange juice.
The juice was on the side in a cup, of course,
that is until I hopped up to grab something and
Orin decided that it looked like it would taste better blended.
Either that or he was making sure he wouldn't have to share.
I have to give him credit, though, he actually ate most of it.

The Poop Deck

There is a restaurant out there somewhere

named The Poop Deck.
I remember this only because I photographed the
sign on our first road trip.
However, I wonder if it was really true to its name.
My deck is slowly becoming the real thing.

Darned birds!

School Picture Day

Today was Orin's school picture day.
I thought very little about whether or not
to have someone else photograph my son.
Besides the problem that Orin often refuses to smile for pictures,
especially for strangers,
and the fact that the pictures cost
approximately the same as a down payment on a modest house,
the overwhelming reason I refused them
was that I likely have 500 pictures
of Orin from this year alone
and even the pros can't catch moments like this one.

Maybe I will start ordering them in Kindergarten,
or when he smiles for strangers behind the camera,
whichever comes first.

Hanging with Baba

Another great outfit from the man.

Orca Attack!

My mother and I were shopping the other day

when we ran into this costume and just had to get it for Orin.
He has been wearing it every moment since.
I think for Halloween Casey and I might be fish.