Old MacDonald's a Deere Man...

Happy Halloween everyone!

We started our festivities with pumpkin carving on the kitchen floor. Aiden was not so sure about the "guts" this year - last year he attacked them with abandon but this year he looked at me like I was nuts scooping out the slimy, seedy insides of the pupkin. We roasted pumpkin seeds (plain ones for the birds, spiced ones for us) and carved up a spooky gourd.

Aiden waffled all over the place the last few weeks when we asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween- anything from "Ha-Pa" (grandpa) to a pirate to "Puff the Magic Dragon" to "Old MacDonald." We finally chose the last one since we already had the makings of that costume. So he was Old MacDonald for Halloween (bear in mind that Aiden's "Old MacDonald" does not have animals on his farm, only diggers, dump trucks, tractors, airplanes, trains, cement mixers, big rigs and motorcycles. I think he actually owns a junkyard.)

New London has a "Haunted Trick or Treat Trail" that's a mile loop which leaves right across the street from our house (very convenient). Early in the evening the costumed ghouls and ghosts don't jump out and scare the little ones, so it was perfect for us. Aiden was great at saying Trick-or-Treat ("Do-Do Treat") when we practiced on the way there, but was completely paralyzed when he actually got in front of any ghost handing out candy! (A preview of the visit with Santa in a few months, I'm guessing...) He still reached for the candy though, so he wasnt that dumbstruck.

The Haunted Trail

A fox in our front yard on Halloween morning

Grandmas are the Best!

Grandma Chris came up to visit her favorite little boy (noooo... not Andy) last week! Aiden had a great time- he definitely loves all his grandparents more than he does us. When we leave for the day he nonchalantly says "Bye Mamoo" before running off to the next toy. When "Gee-mah" leaves though, we get the pouty lower lip and a mopey toddler all day.



I had to work part of Satuday (deja vu?) so Andy, Aiden and Grandma Chris met up with me at Ordione Point, on the seacost, since I was working nearby. After visiting the Science Center, we played on the huge playground, did some birding, and went out for an early dinner at a smokehouse BBQ place in Portsmouth.

The next morning, with Grandma's help watching Aiden, Andy and I were able to finish our raised vegetable beds we've been constructing and filling in the back yard. We have basically placed them in a clay soil wet meadow, so we worked out a semi-elaborate drainage system and will hope for the best next spring (i.e. that they don't turn into mud soup). We made an extra (smaller) bed at the end for Aiden so that he will have his own place to root around, plant seeds, and pull weeds. He seems excited but keeps telling us that the little bed is "Da-doo's." Several of the large ones Aiden has claimed for himself apparently.








We also took an afternoon to visit a friend of Chris' who she used to work with at Suffolk Community College. Chris' friend Lucille and her husband Tom recently moved to Center Sandwich, NH and are renovating an old colonial which they hope to operate as a B&B. It's a beautiful house and grounds, as you can see from the photos below. We had coffee and cake on fine china in their dining room, which was definitley Aiden's most refined dining experience to date! He didn't break anything, so we felt proud :)

Back at home, endless leaves to rake up. Andy says the trees are just laughing at the futility of our raking when they still have so many more leaves to drop. He's probably right. But Aiden loves hamming it up in the leaf piles, so I like to think the trees are just laughing at him.

P-ville Indian Summer

We had a wonderful time in Parishville over Columbus Day weekend, on our annual fall trip to the farmhouse. Micah and Becky had ato go to a friend's wedding that weekend, so we were a bit short of our usual crew, but we made due. The weather was perfect this year- warm and clear - and the leaves were at their peak. Aiden was in heaven as we let him have this last "indian summer fling" where he didn't have to wear a sweater or a jacket most of the time (he prefers as little clothing as possible).

We did all of the old standbys - dutch oven dinners and breakfasts, perusing the shelves of used books at P-ville's BirchBark Bookshop, walking the meadows, and just chilling out on the porch. And we threw in some new twists this year too- we went to the Asian Buffet in Potsdam (a truly amazing and disgusting all-you-can-eat Chinese-Japanese-Korean-Thai-Etc.-Etc.-Etc. restaurant. Your stomach cheers when you walk in the door, and curses you on the way out.) We also went to Blake Pond in the Adirondack Park, to let Aiden and Timber play in the water. It was about 70 degrees out, which Aiden (and Timber) clearly thought was warm enough for the full-body plunge! Warming up while making pies and castles on the sandy beach was fun too.

Dutch Oven Delicacies

Our outdoor cookspot




"Mountain Pies" - berry, apple, chicken n' cheese, and egg n' bacon!



At Blake Pond, before his swim

Jaws!

It's warm!

I'm wet!

Dadoo was not convinced to go for a real swim...


Can I go back in now?

Andy and Dad went out dutifully with their muskets every morning and evening, like clockwork, but there were no deer in evidence. They had close encounters of the camouflage kind with squirrels, turkeys, woodcock, hawks, and songbirds though, and got to spend some quiet contemplation time in the woods. I didn't hear much complaining.

.

The guys returning for breakfast in the morning.

One thing Aiden spent a LOT of time doing was watching and listening to the Red Raven record player that Mom brought up for him. Great Grandma Rising located this favorite of Mom's childhood on e-bay and it is pretty mezmerizing! A little carosel of mirrors goes around with the record, and as it spins and the record sings, repeated images on the record itself animate in the mirrors. If it sounds pretty trippy, it is. We had to play the "Old MacDonald Has a Farm" record at least a thousand times. Another favorite one, "The Little White Duck" is STILL stuck in Andy's and my head.

Since we had one whole day more than we usually do each year, we decided to drive to Massena to see if any large tankers were going through the locks in the St. Lawrence Seaway. Unfortunately, we just missed the last big boat of the morning, and the next one was not scheduled to pass through until well into Aidens naptime. We did find a small boat though, planted with flowers, and since Aiden didn't know what to expect, I think he was satisfied. The things we can still get away with while he's only 2....