Jack's Back

Last night the girl's and I made our annual trek to the Jack-o-Lantern spectacular!

 Rightfully named, because every year it is spectacular!

The last couple years we have gone during the week because the lines on

the weekend are horrendous!

What a big treat to be out at night,

on a school night,

looking at thousands of jack-o-lanterns.

5000 Jack-o-Lanterns! 

I love the changes in Clara Rose's facial expressions

as we made our way through the pumpkin forest. 

There are your somewhat typical jack-o-lantern carvings--

in that they have a face, most more intricately designed than

I could manage even with a stencil!

Others are carvings of people, scenes from movies, animals, etc.

This year's theme is "all the worlds a stage"

So lots of movie stuff.

This was pretty cool-- the tornado from the Wizard of Oz. 

I think this one is a take on the cookie monster. 

There were lots of creepy faced carvings

this year, which I thought were really cool. 

An all time favorite movie for me! 

Clara Rose feeling a little pumpkin-shock. 

All time faves of the girls! 

If you look closely,

Sponge Bob and Patrick are being eaten

by the pumpkin. 

This picture doesn't come close to doing justice!

The pumpkin is about the size of a large

wooden office desk.

The carving is the scene from the

Titanic, when half the boat was sunk. 

Josie, "Hey! Look at that weird monster! He doesn't have eyes or a nose.

Is he crawling out of the toilet?"

Clara Rose, "Toilet! YUCK!"

The big finale- lots and lots of pumpkins

at a big laughing tree.

Think, the laughing music from the song,

"they are coming to take me away, Ha ha." 

You can barely make out the girls silhouette

in this shot. 

With the flash! 

Clara Rose's face says it all . . .

We are in for one spooktacular Halloween!

Fried-burg Fair Part 2

After the crazy rides we settled down a bit

for some of the finer parts of the fair.

One area had some really sparkly gypsy wagons.

Alpacas and Llamas

are sure to bring smiles to everyone face. 

Clara Rose was very excited

to see baby chickens hatching out

of the eggs. 

This fluffy chicken had Josie giggling. 

Wim next to a winner . . .

A Rhode Island Red of course!

Notice the goose below giving him the bird-eye. 

Silly photo-ops. 

More animal houses . . .

BUNNIES! 

SHEEP! 

Mini horses! 

It was wonderful (long) day at the fair.

Everyone was happy to spend our last night

in NH relaxing with a movie and

snacking on cotton candy. 

"Fried" Burg Fair- Part 1

Sunday we headed over to Maine for the Fryeburg Fair!

The girls found this pretend cow

that they could practice milking just inside the gates.

Next we stopped by a petting area and enjoyed

feeding and petting some of the goats.

Soon it was time to hit the Midway and the rides.

Josie and Gabrielle on the Ferris Wheel.

Josie is pointing to the "big kid" rides in a different section

and is telling Jie Jie she wants to go there next.

Me and Clara Rose on the Ferris Wheel.

Swings!

The "big kid" section.

Home of the Zipper.

The ride Jie Jie wants to go on.

No single riders allowed.

Wim will not go on it.

Josie wants to go on it-- says to me, "MOMMMMM! I AM big enough!"

Uh, I don't care.

A random picture of "the Zipper" ride from google images.

Another view of how this thing moves--for those who are not in the know.

An actual picture of the zipper with me and Gabrielle inside.

I label this a stepdaughter's revenge.



Me SCREAMING inside one of the cage cars.
Gabrielle is sitting on the other side of me-- also SCREAMING.


Below is a shot of what it looks like in full motion--from google images.

A Real picture of me trying to walk after riding this crazy thing.

It brought me back to the days of my youth--

the one's that involved a really baaaad hangover!

Josie was hopping all over the place to go

on some of the "REAL" rides.

**SIGH**

Josie and Wim on the Thunder Bolt.

Clara Rose was thrilled to be 'just' big enough--by a hair,

to go on the "REAL" rides.

She was yelling at the operator to go 'faster' and then exclaimed,

"OH Yeah!"

Me and the girls on the Scrambler.



 This was the last of our expose in the Midway

section of the Fair.

Next we are on to more mellowactivities looking at farm animals.

A Day for Exploring

There was a chance for rain on Saturday, so we decided

to stick a little close to home for a day of exploration.

Josie and Clara Rose were excited to hike through the wilderness.

They took turns being the trail leader

and finding the trail markers

for our path.

Clara Rose was her usual funny self.

A walk in the woods is always fun.

Even more so in the fall.

With lots of pretty leaves falling all around.

The girls thought the fungus growing on

this tree was really cool.

After our hike we headed off to

a playground for some more fun.

The playground was a bit on the smallish side, but

there were lots of open soccer fields and a track

to play on as well.

The girls had fun racing, practicing cartwheels, and playing tag.

We did one lap on the running track and discovered

a long jump area. They each had several tries to see how far they could jump.