It's time for October!
And damn if the calendar wasn't already full up with stuff.
I guess that's good and bad?
Good because lock-down type things were easing, and people were out and about more...
Bad because sometimes we were just too busy.
Mikey was selected by lottery to join the Robotics Club at his school.
Teams build robots to do specific tasks and then bring them to competitions.
Their first competition will be sometime in February.
The PTSA Council I am a part of hosted a school board candidate forum the first week in October.
The race was contentious, like many of the school board races across the country.
It was good to get them all in a room to answer questions.
We also recorded it for people to watch later.
And then, if that wasn't all, I had to co-present a PTA training called "Presidents: Plan to Succeed" for our PTA regions which span about 4-5 school districts.
It was a bit nerve-wracking.
I practiced (A LOT) and it went okay.
Mikey was able to watch some friends play hockey at the newly opened
Seattle Kraken practice arena.
Do you know what else happens in October?
Homecoming dances.
Katie was invited to be a guest at her friend's homecoming dance.
She decided to rock a suit with a blue silk shirt.
The cane was just for pictures.
And was frickin' awesome.
FIERCE!
The event was outside under tents. Masks required.
There was a DJ, food trucks and some games (I think).
It was a breezy and rainy evening, but Katie and her friend didn't seem to care.
Off they went!
They stayed at the dance for a bit, but then left due to her friends' anxiety.
They ended up downtown (they walked in the rain - some of them in spiky heels!) and ate some food at a local burger joint.
She had a good time and had stories to tell.
That's what it's all about.
The next few October weeks were full of pretty normal stuff.
The weather was getting rainier, so there were lots of indoor activities.
Katie baked up some everything-free donuts.
For all of the effort she put in, they were pretty meh.
Some desserts lend themselves to being everything-free and some just don't.
It had been a while since Mikey the Mystery used his superpowers.
This kid always gets some kind of mystery illness or whatever that no one can figure out.
Since COVID and all of the protective routines that came with it, Mikey had been able to keep away from sickness in any form.
All that ended in October.
Mid-month he got a rash.
It kept getting worse and worse until I had to text a 24hr doctor line to get help.
They took a guess at what it was with the help of some pictures and got him some meds.
It was gone in a few days.
More baking from Katie.
This time it was pumpkin fudge.
Super delicious, but complicated to make due to the specific temperatures required.
Huzbend, at the behest of Katie, decided to make tempura!
He fried up chicken and some veggies.
I mean, it was good, but absolutely not worth the mess.
SO. MUCH. GREASE.
About mid-month we hit up the pumpkin patch.
Katie drove us there to get some hours towards her license.
It was crazy busy at the patch.
Like, uncomfortably busy in a COVID type of way.
We decided to do the corn maze first.
At this particular pumpkin patch, they have two corn maze paths.
We let Mikey navigate the first one.
As you can see, Mikey navigated his way to this bridge.
"Um? When is it my turn to hold the map?"
Family photo time.
Off we go!
We made it.
Mikey needed a little "advice" just a couple of times.
We're always happy to wander with no rush.
The kids seem to think it's a contest or something and it needs to be done as soon as possible.
The official "Handing Over of the Map".
Katie's turn to navigate us through the second path.
Katie walks a lot faster than Mikey.
Or maybe she was just trying to lose us....
I think it was the second one.
Possibly because of the annoying non-stop Daddy/Mikey slap fights.
As we neared the end of the second corn maze path, we spotted this field of sunflowers.
I think we might have set a world speed record for that last corn maze path.
We were out super quick.
We made our way over to the "games and rides" section of the pumpkin patch.
It was packed. There were so many people there. Ugh.
We decided to go where the people were not.
We found this cute Christmas card photo op over on the uncrowded side.
Noone was waiting, so Katie took a seat.
My kids can't resist a giant slide that's built into a large piece of farm equipment.
Can yours?
Ahhhh, the wonder that is the pay phone booth.
Amazingly there was no line for this attraction.
Yep.
There's always gotta be duck races at the pumpkin patch.
Would it even be a pumpkin patch without rubber ducks that are pushed down gutters with fetid water pumped out of an aluminum tub?
I think not.
Two versus one.
Who will win?
On one side we have two youngsters anxiously wanting to prove their mettle and stop the bragging once and for all.
On the other side, we have an old guy who likes to see kids lose.
How will this ultimate battle of wills turn out?
Will our young team see victory and an end to their torment at the hands of an old sore winner?
Will our old man learn that even his pants can get wet at the muddy pumpkin patch?
Yikes.
Looks like the old man won.
Again.
Next, for your viewing pleasure, kids walking in giant tubes.
Hint: It is not as easy as they think.
Comedy gold.
After watching the multiple giant tube walking fails, Katie played it safe.
Calm. Cool. Collected.
She still hit her head a few times.
Smiles.
I like smiles.
And flowers.
I like them too.
Katies had her photo game down.
Wings perfectly aligned.
Peace signs with both hands.
Mikey...
Not so much.
Katie insisted that we take this photo.
The last time we were at this patch was in 2019.
Here is 2019.
Here is 2021.
Doesn't' seem to be too much of a difference.
Maybe a slight bit taller?
Mikey in 2019.
And, in 2021.
Definitely a bit of growth there.
Maybe as he grew taller his hair grew shorter?
Time to find the perfect pumpkins.
It was so busy that there were no wheelbarrows at the patch.
If we wanted one, we (and when I say "we" I mean Huzbend) would have had to walk a million miles back to the entrance.
We would have to carry whatever we picked back to the checkout.
Katie found hers pretty quickly.
As usual.
Mikey is usually the undecisive one when it comes to pumpkins.
With a little assist, he was able to select his favorite.
Now it was time to carry them to the check out.
"URRRGHHHH.
I will use my uni-ab to carry this!"
"BRO. I GOT THIS."
"Can someone take at least one picture of me? Please?"
"Watch me spin this pumpkin on my finger like a basketball!"
With pumpkins procured, we headed home to get warm and watch Ralph hiccup.
The following weekend, I was stuck inside at my state PTA legislative conference.
The kiddos took the opportunity to carve their pumpkins.
With an assist from Ralph, of course.
He cleans up any stray pumpkin.
Seeds or goop. He doesn't care.
It's all tasty to him.
I have to say that I was impressed with the thoroughness of the cleaned-out pumpkins.
I taught them well.
Since I was busy in front of a computer, I had the kids take their own pictures.
Sadly, there was no one there to smack him.
I'm pretty sure that he didn't eat this.
Like, 95% sure.
There is always some uncertainty.
Because.
Mikey.
Ralph at the ready.
"Need a little help with that?"
Katie decided to go with a "pumpkin eat pumpkin" theme.
We just had to find a pumpkin small enough to fit inside.
Mikey went with the omega symbol (AKA God of War video game reference).
It was time for the lighting test....
They both looked good!
With the clock ticking closer to the end of the month, they decorated sugar skulls for Dia de los Muertos.
My kids have different styles.
Can you guess which skull is who's?
Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
If you guessed this one was Mikey's, you would be right.
The eyebrows are a dead giveaway.
And this would be Katie's.
Here's an in-progress shot.
You'll notice that Mikey is wearing a mask.
You may be asking why would he be wearing a mask at his own house?
He came down with cold-like symptoms over the weekend.
We kept him home from school on Monday to have him tested for COVID.
It came back negative.
His cold symptoms eventually resolved in a day or two, but he had a cough that would NOT STOP.
He coughed every 30 seconds. Constantly.
We couldn't send him to school that way.
Sigh.
So, all in all, because of waiting for COVID testing results and a cough that wouldn't quit, he stayed home for a week from school.
URGH.
And it was the last week in October, so he missed all the fun Halloween-themed stuff at school.
That last weekend in October turned out to be pretty nice weather-wise.
It was now or never to get up on the roof to do some cleaning.
Even though I hate climbing up there and sticking my hand into gutter yuck (yes, I have gloves, but it's still gross), I really like sitting up there and looking off into the distance at the mountains.
I also took the nice weather opportunity to give Ralph a good brushing.
As you can see, it was shedding time.
This....
...is normal.
Yet another COVID Halloween was upon us.
Everyone wore masks, packed up some hand sanitizer and practiced social distancing.
I set up the candy table at the end of the driveway.
I put our pumpkins down there too.
Oh! We did find a pumpkin small enough to fit inside Katie's pumpkin.
This was a Halloween of firsts.
It marked the first time that we parents did not accompany our kids trick or treating.
Mikey was going trick or treating with a friend.
He dressed up as Atreus from the God of War video game series.
Armed with a flashlight, he was ready to embark on his quest for candy.
Katie met her friends downtown.
They did some trick or treating, hung out for a bit and then she came home.
Katie dressed as a Plague Doctor.
Katie returned first and dove into her candy.
First up, devour the Dia de los Muertos peeps.
All of them.
She then proceeded to eat the rest of her haul, including the trade-in candies that I picked up.
Mikey eventually wandered in with a huge bag of candy.
After the sort and trade, he tucked in and ate his weight in sugar.
