Merry and Bright

Halloween Pumpkin Pickin’ Party

Because several people have either commented to me or to my parents about how much they enjoy seeing the pictures from our annual party, I am going to go ahead and post them here.  For those who have not seen past pictures, here is what happens.  My dad has always had a large garden.  For the last several years, he has been growing pumpkins and then we get together to have a party and the grandkids get to pick a pumpkin for Halloween.  Some of our cousins that live close by also come with their kids.  It seems that each year, there are more pumpkins.  I don’t remember the exact count, but I know there were over 50 pumpkins of all shapes and sizes this year. 

My parents have a fabulous yard (one in which I worked many grueling, heartless, thankless hours growing up.)  No, actually, we did work many hours but we always felt appreciated and were able to enjoy the fruits of our labors.  Sometimes that was fresh peas, either picked just for the eating or by sneaking handfuls as we were all sitting together shelling them.  It was piles of fresh corn being husked, blanched, creamed, and frozen to enjoy throughout the year.  It was a zip-line from the a tree to the porch.  It was so many things.  And often, we got an ice cream cone from Arctic Circle after a hard days’ work.

This yard is amazing for grandkids to run around and play in.  Grandpa built a big swing set and what we all call the “Tree Mansion.”  It is all over sand and is currently under renovation as they are adding a ramp to the Tree Mansion so that Zach can access it by himself.  There is a fire pit back in one corner under the fruit trees, with a rock bench and a large box of wildflowers behind it.  There are flowers along the path to the garden.  There is another seating section nearer the play area with a covered, padded swinging bench.  The view is great from almost all sides.  I could go on and on, but basically, I love their yard.  And it’s a great yard for Halloween Pumpkin Pickin’ Parties!

Because this year’s party was the weekend of Fall Break, we were able to congregate on Thursday evening, which was great, so the kids could spend more time there and with their cousins, who also came early.  We hung out Friday and then had the party on Saturday.  The kids (and sometimes the adults) dress up. They went Trick or Treating to different doors or stations, went pumpkin bowling, and played “Hide and go Monster,” invented by Austin, and another game they made up. They played with a parachute and bounced a giant spider around on it.  We usually have a big silly string fight at the end but completely forgot this time, even though Grandma had 24 cans ready!  We picked pumpkins and had a barbeque with hamburgers, hot dogs and salad.  Grandma also made pumpkin donut holes.  Yummy!   Here are a few pictures, not necessarily in order, of both the yard and party.  You can click on individual pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!  We did!

 

Now, because I did post, please comment!  I would love to read them!  Then I won’t feel sad and rejected (do you feel guilty yet?) because nobody commented on my long, chock-full of pictures, post.  And I may be inspired to continue such posts in the future.  I guess you may not consider that to be a good thing, in which case you probably won’t comment just to avoid any more misery or guilt! 

Hawaiian Sunrise

Cool, calm, enlightening.  Renewing.

Coming Soon…

Roadtrip!

We took a last-minute, overnight road trip to Southeastern Utah a couple of weekends ago.  It was great fun and we got to see things none of us (no, not even me) have ever seen.  I’ve always wanted to go to Moab, but as many times as we went in that general direction, it was to go to Lake Powell (not that I’m complaining in any way!) So we stayed in Blanding, hit Monument Valley National Monument first thing and then Arches National Park on the way home.  We left home at 3:00 pm Friday and got home at 11:00 pm Saturday. We all had a great time, with the possible exception of Katie who very vocally informed us of her displeasure at being strapped in the car seat any longer.    I hope we can do more fun little road trips like this one more often.