Halloween 2010

Halloween is VERY big in Alameda. We're talking a week's worth of community festivities as a lead-in and then bus loads of kids trucked in from Oakland and elsewhere for the actual trick-or-treating (This is not an exaggeration. There were THOUSANDS of kids thronging the East End where we live). My mom was able to come up for the whole week this year since she is a recent retiree. A great time was had by all, and once again, we ended up with no surplus candy because the boys love handing it out even more than bringing it in. YES!

Henry "I'm a hungry shark not a nice shark" Gerber

The parade at Henry's Play Place class

The whole Play Place crew

Max's preschool class performed some Halloween songs and poems

Carving our pumpkin at the Goddard's Halloween party

A pumpkin with his pumpkin

Max and Mick up to no good

No bones (or trucks) were broken in the taking of this picture

Too much sugar?

Trick-or-Treating with the neighbors

Spiderman Max and his sidekick Henry the Shark

Papa Ron meets a fellow Trojan

A giant spider rigged on a pulley system

The boys and their grandparents (we missed you, Mona Mona!)

San Francisco Fun

A gorgeous day, a visiting grandma, cable cars, seafood lunch at Fisherman's Wharf, ice cream at Ghiradelli Square. What could possibly be better?!

Rainy Pumpkins

Why did we wait 30 minutes in the rain for free pumpkins at the annual Alameda Fire Department giveaway, especially considering that we already had three pumpkins at home?

Because they were free, damn it! Everybody loves free stuff. Leaving early would have been a sign of weakness. Pumpkin picking isn't for pansies, right boys?!

Raider Nation

Field of Dreams

Thanks to Papa Ron, Scott, Max and I were able to enjoy a playoff baseball game last night in San Francisco. Being a die-hard Dodgers fan, Scott had a rough time attending a Giants game, but he at least managed to maintain a neutral demeanor -- neither booing nor cheering. Max, Ron, and I did not suffer any such divided loyalties, and we enjoyed whooping it up and shaking our "rally rags." I'm not quite sure that Max was really old enough for this experience, however. He was weeping with exhaustion by the 6th inning and when asked, he said the best part of the experience was riding in a taxi. Oh well. I guess we're laying the groundwork for future baseball fandom, right? God help the kid if he doesn't grow up to love the sport!

As for Henry, he spent the evening with our good buddies Jeff, Megan, Ben and Alex. Jeff is apparently some kind of "toddler whisperer," because he was able to get all three boys to sleep in under 30 minutes. Jeff -- would you mind coming by my house tonight to deal with Max and Henry after their bath?

Fall Fun

The first few weekends of fall have been busy around here. Last weekend we had Grandma Rhona in town. We all went to the Dragon Boat Festival on Treasure Island and enjoyed watching boat races, playing games in the kids' pavilion, and snacking on yummy bao buns fresh from the best-named food truck I've ever encountered:



This weekend is off to a good start as well. We set out early to check out a pumpkin patch near Pleasanton. We were literally the first visitors of the year and they weren't quite ready for us. A fork list was still delivering pumpkins and the rides weren't up and running yet. Apparently somebody (and I'm not saying who, but she used to start working on her Halloween costume in June, and she loves to decorate) was just a wee bit over-eager. Oh well, water under the bridge. We still managed to pick out and overpay for several nice pumpkins:



Next on the agenda -- a block party Oktoberfest extravaganza and a community bike ride and BBQ. Hurray for Autumn!

First Day of School