Indiana Devolves

Waking Connor up yesterday morning for school:

D: Good morning, Bee Boo. Time to wake up. I see your eyes are opening.
C: Hmmmrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! (he stretches)
D: How ya feeling this morning? (i sit on the bed next to him)
C: Good. Mama, I just had a dream.
D: What about?
C: Ummm. Indiana Jones. I WAS Indiana Jones. Me. Connor was Indiana Jones. In a Crystal Skull story.
D: Cool. What did it feel like to be Indiana Jones? Was it scary?
C: No. I was Indiana Jones.
D: So what happened?
C: Ummm. I was Indiana Jones and I was on the Circle of Doom ride and I PEED MY PANTS. Me, as Indiana Jones! (laughs hysterically)
D: Well, that can't have been good! You peed in your Indiana Jones pants?
C: Yeah, well, that's just how this Indy rolls.

Not kidding.

Don't Fall! Colors

Had our first fall/winter Sunday morning hike today. Last winter we did a few and I'm going to try to enforce it a bit more this year. Its just so nice to be together out in the quiet and crisp. Today we went to Great Falls and it was beautiful. We got there early--before the crowds and hiked the River Trail for about an hour and half. Connor, of course, loved the overlooks which he calls the "lookovers" and made us both paranoid along the trail about him running toward a cliff. There was long discussion about how canal locks worked and what goods they moved from Pittsburgh and why. And there were some cool "Please Touch" items in the Vistor Center including a snake skin and antlers.

We spent the rest of the day lying low, napping, watching "Nim's Island", and doing lots of coloring and drawing. Tonite we've been told that we are lucky to live with a "Fish Artist" and we were provided about 20 drawings of various fanged fish (which I started with a random drawing of a fish with pink fins and brown teeth--it took off from there). Enjoy.

Alter Egos

I love Halloween. You all know that. I really really do. But I am so glad that it is over. This week has been just insane--in a good way, but still insane. I need a day in a sense deprivation tank to recover.

Two costumes this year. Wolverine for school and Zombie for Trick or Treating. Enjoy!

Mind the Pulp

Here is our collection of Tate-Made Jacks! And here are the various inspirations:

1. Polka Dots on a White Pumpkin-Martha Stewart (of course!)
2. Flaming Skull-Jack O'Lantern Blaze motif
3. Spider on a White Pumpkin-Jack O'Lantern Blaze motif
4. Frankenstein on a Green Pumpkin-Inspired by the green and the shape
5. Grinch on a big green(maybe Blue Norwegian variety?) -The shape and the color
6. Two Eyes on a Green Gourd-The shape just looks like an alien and the light shines through it awesomely!!

Boo to you my friends and family! Hope your Halloween is super creepy in the best possible way.

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Since the original post above I got a request to see the Grinch in color. Here he is!

A Spooktacular Weekend

Our long-planned fall fun weekend turned out fantastically. This is a photo-heavy post and the spacing issues on Blogger are driving me nuts--so forgive the layout issues, please!

We started out on Thursday with a stop at JerseyBaby's highly recommended fun spot--The Pop Shop. You know that with a cute sign/graphics like this its gonna be great!





Right out of the gate we ordered the JerseyBaby drink of choice--Ice Cream Butter Beer and shared it in a few cups. It and the place TOTALLY lived up to the recommendation.

It took alot of 'splaining to describe what a jukebox does, but C saw the little picture of Elvis inside it and said "Hey, mom, that's that guy from the Hawaii movie!"

And these are the chocolate chip Bettys--pancakes. Check out the tongue...

Now, if you weren't sold by the cuteness of the sign, and the jukebox, and the hats....then you've got to love a place that comes up with this as a menu item...

And even though I REALLY WANTED TO GET THAT THING BECAUSE I HAD THE PHEVER AND ALL....I figured I'd be somewhat good and carb conscious and get a nice little Cobb salad. Then, they brought out this monster in a MIXING bowl:

Let's just say the bowl was still 2/3 full when I quit. Bob had the Bobby Flay grilled cheese from the Throwdown episode he filmed there in February. Yum! Thanks, JerseyBaby--what a way to start the weekend and we're grateful for the insider tip. By the way, how cute is Collingswood? I grew up an hour away and never knew that place was there. Adorable. We staggered from the Pop Shop and headed up I-95 and over the George Washington Bridge. You can see Leilani on my dashboard in this shot as she hulas her way to Manhattan. My dad worked on NY waterways and I always think of this bridge fondly and remember one of my favorite books as a little girl "The Little Red Lighthouse". The next time we are there we will take the time to stop and climb the stairs of that sweet little beacon!

We arrived in Tarrytown and got settled in and raised a toast.

Nothing beats a hotel pool when you are five years old.

On Friday we headed up the Hudson to Kingston, NY, home of the Rip Van Winkle tour boat. It took about 90 minutes to get there on the Thruway and Kingston is an interesting town that is clearly struggling to find its way. It has a rich history as an inland port that was the terminus of a canal that came over 100 miles from eastern Pennsylvania that was used to transport anthracite coal. It also was the center of Bluestone quarry transportation to cites across the eastern seaboard. All of that is gone now and what is left is a small waterfront with hulking wrecks of canal boats and long lost dock pilings. There is a small Hudson river maritime museum with a very loud bell--I know because Connor rang it several times.

And lots of tug boats which gave us a great opportunity to tell fun stories about Pop Pop and his engine rooms.

We climbed aboard after our waterfront stroll and headed south down the Hudson toward Hyde Park. We got to see lots of Hudson River mansions--this is just a small one and I can't even remember who built it. Yes--this is a small one.

This is the Kingston Lighthouse. Its a bed and breakfast if you want to stay there.

This is the Kingston waterfront and that's the Rip Van Winkle on the right under the bridge.

It was chilly out on the river with the wind--even though the temp was in the 50s.

On Friday night we had a blast as the Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze. My photos are lacking because I didn't have a tripod and I can't hold the camera still enough. First---a 20 foot high spider web. They thread the Jack-O-Lanterns on rods to make these sculptures. The whole field around the web was littered with other Jack-O-Lanterns carved with flies and spiders.

This is a shot of the VanCortlandt Manor front porch with a red spooky light and more Jacks lining the railings.

These are white pumpkins--my favorites. This shot is not good but take my word for it that some of them on the Manor were exquisite with delicate lace designs.

This is a field with hundreds of headstones topped with more Jacks and a big gazebo on the left made entirely of Jacks.

These are 10-15ft tall dinos that were incredible.

And this is the Jack-O-Lantern archway at the entrance. Overall there were nearly 5,000 Jacks on the estate property and you followed a lantern lit trail to see them all. It was literally incredible. Bob and I kept looking at each other and saying "Can you believe this"? It was so cool.

The next day we visited the Rockefeller family mansion, Kycuit (Ki-cut), built by John D. Rockefeller around 1904. The tour included the art collection of Nelson Rockefeller and the coach barn with John D. Sr's collection of carriages and many of the Rockefeller family automobiles. I was a bit worried that Connor would be bored but he surprised me as usual. He was very engaged and just like his PopPop used to do, nearly drove the tour guide nuts with irrational and hysterical questions. PopPop was FAMOUS for that and he used to make my sister and I cringe at these things. Well, he's back. Its the Circle of Life in action and I watched my little boy stand up there next to Connie The Tour Guide and raise his little hand to ask ask ask. He particularly liked Nelson's art gallery in the basement and under the garden terraces. I particularly liked this huge painting by Joan Miro which takes up an entire massive wall in the classical music room. It's actually a copy--Nelson got strong-armed into donating the original to the MOMA---his mother was one of the founders and they guilted him into it. I wouldn't have parted with it.

Later that night we headed over to the Phillipsburg Estate for the Legend event. Again, so cool it really can't be adequately described. You enter the grounds of the estate and follow a candle-lit trail around the grounds where there are storytellers, giant puppets, ghostly figures, interestingly lit landscapes, and the piece de resistance--the Headless Horseman who gallops through a dark meadow and wags his pumpkin head at you. Here's some creepy Redcoats in the barn.

This is a story-teller who told us of the White Lady. Connor loved it and randomly shouts out "Is that you my beloved?" about every 3 hours.

And this was the man himself---head missing and galloping forth to taunt us all.

And this is the only unshaky shot I have of how the architecture was lit at both events.

It truly was a Spooktacular weekend. The whole region is beautiful and the spirit of the season is high. I highly recommend this trip and these events if you are a family that loves Halloween.

Busy Day with the Great Pumpkins!

Happy - tired are we after a day roving around the countryside for the fall farm tour with Nana and Aunt Marilyn. The best stop was the hillside pumpkin patch at Wegmeyer Farms. We had a great hayride along the water and picked up that beautiful white pumpkin with the gray spots and a sparkling rind as well as a big green one that will get a Frankenstein face carved into it any day now.

The Boys of October

Today was the last game of Connor's first baseball season. What a great experience we all had. Nana and Aunt Marilyn were here to see it and it was a true October game--bright shining sun, golden and crimson leaves, and CHILLY! The spectators were bundled up. The boys had a great time. We'll need to really make a concerted effort to stay in touch with a few of them. Bob really enjoyed it, too. The families all pitched in and got him a really nice gift card and we had a fine end of season party at the Buffalo Wing Factory. The boys each got a trophy from the league and I made them each a little certificate that I mounted on cardstock. They loved it--and so did we.

Carson, Ryan and Connor enjoying their favorite inter-inning pastime...fence climbing.

Connor and Ryan being silly.

End of season group therapy hug.

GO STORM!!