Halloween

Halloween is finally here! Check out our pumpkins. I painted a skeleton on my pumpkin (left) since mommy and daddy said I couldn't use a butcher knife until I was at least 5 years old. Daddy's pumpkin is in the middle and I'm not sure what is going on with that pumpkin and mommy's pumpkin is on the right. I'm not sure which pumpkin is the best, but it's certainly not the middle pumpkin.

The first order of business on Halloween was an afternoon party at "Once Upon a Time" (my daycare). I dressed up as Spiderman (second from left). "Hmmm......ANOTHER Spiderman! You've got to be kidding me!"

Holy seeing double Batman!
Our class did a couple Halloween songs for our parents. My favorite song is "Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate". I'm the second one in on the right.

The songs were complete with hand & arm gestures.

Before we were set free to "Trick or Treat" we got much needed nourishment.

I hooked up with the gang at Verona's nursing home. We thought the nursing home would be a great way to kick off our "Trick or Treating" evening.

The highlight of the nursing home was visiting my double great Aunt Ruth. She is 98 years old! (Even older than Molly). I got the impression Ruth had not seen many Spidermen at her nursing home. I also bet she hasn't seen many six-pack abs either.

The Search Continues

I continued my pumpkin search on October 16th when the ENTIRE family visited Eugster's Farm in Stoughton, Wisconsin.

Bailey and I like to walk together.
This is NOT a good sign. This must be a 250 pound pumpkin!

Ooops! Forgot about Molly.
FINALLY! The perfect pumpkin!!!
Finding the perfect pumpkin called for a little celebrating. I have just finished eating a cookie with purple frosting.

Pumpkin Hunting

Halloween "season" began on September 20th when we visited Peck's Farm Market near Spring Green, Wisconsin. I want to find a pumpkin that is just right. Not too big and not too small.
Peck's also has a very nice petting zoo. Not only can you pet the animals, you can feed them too!
Peck's has the largest pumpkins I have ever seen! Holy cow!!
Unfortunately, I cannot carry a 150 pound pumpkin.

Shenandoah National Park

We made a return trip to Washington D.C. to visit aunt Tammy and uncle Gordie. I was also thrilled to be reunited with an old friend...Sasha the cat. We played a lot together. I probably spent the better part of our trip "meowing" instead of talking.

On our first day, we visited the National Zoo in Washington D.C. At the zoo I played on a giant foam pizza. I couldn't get enough of moving mushrooms around and sliding off cheese and tomatoes.

The zoo also featured a high wire act by the orangutans. The wires are suspended above the zoo by towers and the orangutans are free to use them as they please. There are no safety nets, but they evidently never fall. You can see uncle Gordie and aunt Tammy watching in the foreground.


The next day uncle Gordie showed us the Pentagon where he works. This is the only picture I have of the Pentagon since cameras are not allowed. The security is very tight, but uncle Gordie was able to take us to his office which is across the hallway from the Secretary of the Navy. Uncle Gordie is a Commander in the U.S. Navy and works primarily with the Deputy Secretary of the Navy.

On Monday, October 20th we temporarily left uncle Gordie and aunt Tammy for a couple days to visit Shenandoah National Park in northern Virginia.

We drove along the famous Skyline Drive. Skyline Drive runs 105 miles along the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Park. It has over 70 turnouts to take in the spectacular views.

To our surprise we virtually had the Park to ourselves. This was somewhat shocking considering we were only a couple hours from Washington D.C. and Baltimore and the Fall colors were at their peek. Do people not know the Park exists?

The only downside of our stay at Shenandoah National Park was when I "crashed" on a hike. I did a face plant when I tripped on a leaf concealed tree root. I was a bloody mess, but two Band-aids on my face, one each on my elbow and knee made me feel a lot better. Daddy suggested rubbing dirt on my scrapes and cuts, but mommy opted for Elmo Band-aids.


I quickly got right back on the trail. This time sporting a walking stick. The walking stick was my idea. Notice mommy carrying my leaf collection. I was looking for BIG leaves in every color I could find.
We finished off our trip by visiting the largest caves on the East coast. They are the Luray Caverns in the Shenandoah Valley. It is 1.5 miles of underground caves which I walked most of the way.

Here I'm listening to our tour guide talk about Stalagmites.

Learning

A number of people have asked what I can do. Friends and family hold up fingers and ask me to count or ask me how old I am. As of right now, I can count to 29. I know my ABC's and can spell my name forwards (Sam Bass) and backwards (ssaB maS).
I like to play Super Grover's rhyming game on the computer. Super Grover will ask me to click on an object that rhymes with the word Grover says. For instance, Grover will say "coat" and I will have to find an object that rhymes such as "boat" and click on it.