Trick-or-Treat

Happy Halloween! Evelyn actually started her celebration on Wednesday at the library. She wore her costume to storytime which was followed by trick-or-treating throughout the building.



Last night Evy helped clean out her pumpkin to get it ready for carving. She thought it was "ooey and gooey," but that didn't stop her from playing with the pile of pumpkin guts.

All of those things were in preparation for tonight's main event - trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.

Evelyn almost doubled her house total from last year, making seven stops for goodies. That took a lot more time and effort than you might think.

Once we got back to the house she had a great time handing out candy, sipping apple cider and chatting with just about everyone. By the end of the evening it was starting to get cold, but Evy refused to put on a sweater.

"Turtles don't wear sweaters," she said.

They don't eat Kit Kats either. Lucky for me.

Pumpkin Time

Hay!



We continued our fall family tradition today with a trip to Trax Farms. Before checking out the pumpkins, Evelyn sampled some apple cider and took a spin on the tractor.



Then she searched the whole pile to find her perfect one.



And then she posed with it.

Zoo II: People Everywhere

It looked like today might be the last nice Sunday of the year, so we decided to go to the zoo. (And the Steelers are on a bye this week). Apparently everyone else in Pittsburgh had the same idea.

It was also free admission day. We didn't find this out until we arrived at the gate. We should have known something was up while we were sitting in 40 minutes of traffic. Either way, there were many more people than animals there today.

The zoo has two new baby elephants. We were lucky to enough to see one of them. It's the small one.



Just like last year, Evelyn posed on the giant turtle.

And waved to the sea lions.



We had fun despite the crowds. Evy got to see the lions and penguins, which is all she really wanted to do.

I wonder what the animals thought about so many people walking around, staring at them. I guess it gave them something to look at, too.

Justin Roberts Meets Jimi Hendrix

Along with The Beatles and Foo Fighters, Justin Roberts is among Evy's favorite musicians. We like him too, because he writes children's songs that adults can actually enjoy. You can only listen to "Baa, Baa Black Sheep" so many times...

Here is Evelyn's version of "Pop Fly," the title track from Justin's latest CD. You'll notice that her guitar is actually a Guitar Hero™ controller.



Jimi Hendrix was known for doing a lot of inventive things with his guitar - like playing it behind his back. And lighting it on fire. Maybe we should make sure our fire extinguisher is close by when she takes the stage.