Halloween, part 1

I'm sincerely hoping there will be additional Halloween posts, providing all family members who are parents of smallish trick-or-treaters will share photos of their costumed children. Hint. 

No matter what, I had to post these pictures together. When Gpappy saw the photo of Miles in his yippie-yi-yo cowboy outfit, he was reminded of his own tour of duty as a buckaroo at age 5. Hopalong Cassidy was one of the big names in cowboy stars back then, and he was little Rennie's hero.

On my computer screen, the two pictures show up side by side. Even if they don't appear that way on yours, it's still worth a cuteness comparison! 

And here's Hopalong...

Happy Halloween, boys!

It's got everything you could dream of

Another beautiful October weekend. The trees are losing their luster, but the remaining pops of yellow, gold, and red here and there still brighten the landscape.

Saturday was the annual Halloween Fun Run in St. Peter. Our section of Church Street is on the route, giving us front row seats each year. There are a gazillion terrific pictures of runners in costumes posted on Facebook, the Herald website, and other places, so I didn't take many. This year's run had the usual assortment of tutus, convicts, and scary creatures.
 

Michele Rusinko and friends were perfectly creepy as they strode toward me unsmiling from the street. Best makeup ever!

Ethan and Owen watched with us. They noticed the ketchup, mustard, pickle trio. The fourth runner may be a hamburger. I'm not sure.

There's nothing quite like a gorilla in a wedding dress.

The boys were crazy about this Lego guy. He was pretty cool.

Didn't get a picture of Charlie running with his Res Life crew -- Owen and I were in the garage putting his shoes on -- but luckily Daddy found us to say hi and to get a hug from Owen. Fortunately, the official photographer for the race captured CP, and here he is, with some color adjustment to add to the intrigue.

Our neighbor Mark watched the fun run, too, and took lots of pictures, including a shot of these two race spectators and a spectre. 

  

Gpappy got into the Halloween spirit this weekend with his cheerful teeshirt. There's always a story to be read.

We had an invitation on Sunday to go to the Oak View Nursery and Pumpkin Patch right outside of Owatonna. You know, just a little ways down the road. About 7.5 miles, right Annie? Lots to do-- bouncy house, big trikes, huge inflated slide, scary outhouses with witches inside, a hayride, punkin' chunkin', and much more-- "It's got everything you could dream of," as Miles told us on the way there. He was right.

 

There is a video in the space directly above, which doesn't show up on the iPad or iPhone versions of this entry (at least not on mine). If you can't see it, it's Miles, going lickety-split, head first, down the bouncy slide. 

I love October

I'm happy to report that my iPhone is in improved health. Everything is back in working order except for the FaceTime camera . That means I can't accidentally take a picture of myself anymore. This is a good thing.

Don and Janet drove down from Forest Lake on Saturday morning to spend the day. After a reasonably good lunch at River Rock, Don and Dad/Larry/Gpappy went to the Gustie game while Janet and I roamed downtown St. Peter. CP, APP, E, and O stopped over after the football game, and then went on their way to help Aunchie mentally prepare for today's half marathon in Mankato. Don and Janet had supper with us, and a good time seemed to be had by all!

Speaking of all having a good time, the Grimmius-Dellon adventure in NC looks likes lots of fun based on the pictures. Of course, the pictures don't come with sound, which may tell a louder story. Ha ha!

Here are some favorite shots from the weekend, mostly stolen from sources other than my phone camera. The NC photos are from AG and ESPD.

Littlest cousins are ready for some UNC football.

And so are the biggest cousins...

Go Tarheels! The team that eats the most cotton candy wins!

Cousin Linda and Auntie Annie

Cousin Vivi, Cousin Miles, Cousin Linda, and Cousin Hannah

Red-lipped Johnny football player (don't tell anyone it's really Ethan!)

Just how long IS a half-marathon, anyway??

These nice boys gave high/low-fives to runners along the course while waiting to cheer for their mommy and her friend, Jen. Thanks for the photo, CP.

This was a perfect fall weather weekend. October is a glorious month, without a doubt.

Weston catches up

All the cousins are at least FOUR, now that Westy is having his birthday. He celebrated big time on Sunday, enjoying the attention from aunties and uncles, grandparents, cousins, and his big brother. I didn't take any pictures due to dunking my cell phone in a cup of coffee on the way to Otown (see previous blog entry), so this one is borrowed from Tanner and Annie's collection.

Should you wonder if an earthquake or some other natural disaster created a need yellow caution tape in two languages, everything is okay. The tape was part of the worker-man theme that Westy lives every day by helping the road construction crew working nearby. Notice the re-enactment of the road work on Weston's birthday cake!

Westy, we wish you a very  

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY!!

Decaf or regular?

It's not easy to drop a cell phone into a cup of coffee while driving, especially since I wasn't holding on to either the coffee mug or the cell phone. But it happened. Half-caf, half-decaf with half & half, thank you very much.

In case you're wondering, I chose basmati.

Wiggy Skype conversation

Fun to talk to Vivi and Hannah today to hear about Vivi's "Frozen" birthday party and to see the fun Elsa and Anna costumes they got from GranMarge. Evan showed us how he looks in the wigs, too, but I wasn't quick enough to grab my phone for a picture. Next time I'll take screenshots-- couldn't remember what I needed to do for that this time, but you get the idea!

Vivian has a birthday

Happy Birthday, Vivi!!

Whew! That's FOUR birthdays this month. Coincidentally, Vivi is turning FOUR!