Halloween Preparations at Ben's

I went to Ben's house Saturday and we went from there to a farm near Olympia where we got pumpkins. They had a petting zoo and a hayride and ton of pumpkins. The kids went and got started on that while I called AAA, since Ben had locked himself out of his car (I'm still not sure how that happened). I don't use AAA that often, but it sure is great to have. They came out and unlocked the car for no charge (it's good on any car I'm in!) and took care of the problem clean as a whistle. Then I was off to find pumpkins with the gang. Everyone found their perfect gourd and then we went back home to carve them. Sarah had stayed home and baked pita bread--made some great mini-pizzas with fresh tomato, red onion, feta cheese and herbs (WOW).

The Jack O'Lanterns were all really great. Each kid made one that reflected their personality and style. The bottom one is mine!

Home Repairs as Farce

When I got home from Massachusetts on Tuesday there was a note on my door, from my landlord. It announced that on Wed-Thursday the repair aces, AKA the Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight, would be replacing the patio doors and the bedroom windows in my front bedroom. They asked that I move anything in that bedroom at least 3 feet from windows, so I did. I moved everything into the Living Room.

When I got home Wednesday afternoon, they'd done nothing on the patio door, nothing in the front bedroom. They had, however, replaced all the windows in my Living Room.

Nobel Peace Prize

Obama hasn't brought peace-of course no one else has either-but he has brought hope. Mainly, I think the prize recognizes the general global sentiment--"Thank God Bush is gone!" Maybe now the USA can start acting like a rational member of the world community and not like a drunken frat boy with a chip on his shoulder. Obama's challenge now is to really earn this award.

Whidbey Island Farm Tour 2009

Spent Saturday with Becky and her family, doing the Whidbey Island Farm Tour.

We only managed three farms, but the kids had a great time. First, we went to a small farm where they grew pumpkins and other veggies. They also had some small animals; kittens, peafowl, turkeys and geese. The kids loved that, particularly Zack.

Then we went to a little farm where they raise alpaca. The wool is so soft, we all loved that. There were some baby alpaca and they were so lively and bouncy, a lot of fun.

Finally, we went to a large farm where they breed race horses. That was by far the largest operation we went to, really impressive. Lukas and Emelia rode ponies and they all took a hay ride. A great end to our day!

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Another movie review.

I went to see "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" with Becky's kids. One of the best kids' movies and one of the best comedies I've seen in a long time. A lot of animated films go all out for the animation and go with a lackluster script, but this movie is wonderfully drawn and also very wittily written. There are some truly laugh out loud moments--not LOL when you're really barely smiling--but real, true belly laughs. And the art work is funny too. Things moved very fast and I'm sure I missed some visual jokes just because it was so fast-paced. It reminded me of Mad Magazine, only animated.They use physical comedy as well as any animated film I've seen in a while-the Mr. T character, the town cop, has some hilarious physical bits. They even threw in a handy-dandy couple of morals, the best one being that the lead female character became more attractive and more interesting when she showed her true self (a self-described nerd) than she was when she was a blonde bimbo.

In case you can't tell, I liked this one. A solid 5 star, don't miss film. If you don't have kids of your own or grandkids or a niece or nephew, and you don't feel comfortable going to kids' movies alone, rent a kid, but see this movie!