Sorry, Mom, that I took so long getting these pictures up.  Halloween, like the past week, went by so fast.

 Miles was a dragon.  Recognize this costume?   Another two-year-old wore it.  Was that really two years ago?

 Jack was a dragon, too.  My friend Marin came through with Jack and Lucy's costumes...we had a rushed weekend, and I didn't get anything together, but Marin happened to have just the costumes we needed.

 Bowden came up with his Mountain Man costume on his own.

 Lucy was a bunny.  The star of the show was a yarn cotton-tail, but I didn't get a picture of it.

 Oh.  And I was a washed-up punk.  Nobody knew me.  It was AWESOME.

 Miles fell asleep on the walk up.  He woke up just in time to trick-or-treat.

The pink cowboy boots matched Lucy's nose.

Miles was sweet on his tickets.  He loved them.  He had no idea why he got them or what they were for, but he loved them.  It was fun.  It was tiring.  It was Halloween, not a holiday, but a fun day- and now I have three buckets and one bag of candy.  Which is good for...cavities, stomach-aches, and bad attitudes.  Oh, candy.  I love you so much.  Sometimes.

This is the reason why Josh didn't win the pie-eating contest. Look at him giggling while the rest of us are diving in. Pshaw. (I also didn't win. I think that that has more to do with the pumpkin that went up my nose.)

It took the chickens all of twenty seconds to discover the the maple tree on the center lawn was dropping it's leaves. It's been a beautiful couple of days, nice and warm, and the trees just turned.

Bowden had immediate plans.

Jack was not allowed to jump in the pile until later.

Miles thought the whole things was wonderful.

When the Rooster came out, he taught the kids the ol' Tate game of leaf-catching.

He helped rake, too.

Poor Jack. It was joy and sorrow all day.

See? We have seasons in California!

We had a really fun-looong- day in Santa Monica last Monday. We ate crepes, hung out with our friend Tim, and wandered about. The worst thing was what happened in these pictures. This man had a cage with bunnies, and the kids swarmed, and I spent all of my last change on it. That's right- bunnies for money. I didn't have any money, so I felt bad. I think I gave him a dollar in change. The kids loved the bunnies. The whole thing was stressful. It was chaotic with the kids, and honestly, how nice can it be for a bunny to be passed around from child to child?
I made Miles sit down, and the guy said, "Oh, yeah, that's a good idea." He was going to hand my two-year-old a huge bunny while standing!

My sister, however, is really lovely at this point in her pregnancy, no? She's pretty.

Lucy took the bunny...and then dropped it. Not on it's back, but still. The bunny was fine, but I was not doing well.

Miles loved holding the rabbit. It was cute. We took pictures- see? Then someone brought an iguana out, a big, beautiful iguana, and I was TOTALLY OUT OF THERE.

I don't know why the whole day was so stressful, but it was. I'm becoming a small-town weirdo.

When Bowden asks for an inverted Mohawk, we give it to him. It's free, healthy self-expression that grows out. Even if it is ugly as sin.

As I was sorting Bowden's pajama drawer, I found a sock with an object I thought was a baby ring in the toe. It was actually a rock-hard mini-bagel.
"Bowden- what is this bagel doing in your sock?"
He looked up and grinned. "It's my bagel-sock. "
"Really?"
"Yep. It's the SOCK OF DOOM."