Halloween Blaze

Another fun thing I did in October to celebrate the Fall/Halloween season was go to the Halloween Pumpkin Blaze in the Hudson Valley, about an hour and a half out of the city.  It was basically like those parks with tons of Christmas lights in crazy designs, except with carved pumpkins.  They weren't all real (how could they be, I guess), but a lot of them were.  It was the perfect combination of awesome and slightly creepy, with different areas and scenes and music in minor keys playing throughout.  It was very cool, and the company was even better.  I don't have a lot to say about it, so here are the pics:

The crew: Ty, Emily, Dallin, Alexis, Ros, Sharon, David, me.  (The one on the end, looking like a stranger photo bombing someone else's picture).

Jack O Lantern In The Box?

A zoo, you know...

The Bride of Frankestein.  And a graveyard.

With Faux-Pumpkin (or Fumpkin) Zombies.

Self explanatory.  And creepy.

We are very close to Sleepy Hollow, of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow takes place.  So, naturally, we have The Headless Horesman.

Chinese New Year?  Nope, just a fumpkin dragon.

My girl Alexis and I.

Sometimes you just need to end a blog post with a picture of a cool lantern.

Our Day in the Leaves. or Storm King

I feel like I'm about to tell you some Nordic myth about a king who created storms to stop wars and prove to his queen how much he loved her.  Or something.  But I'm actually just going to tell you about the sculpture park my friends and I went to.  It happens to be called Storm King, and the leaves are stunning this time of year.  The sculptures were cool, but really, I just wanted to play in the leaves!  It was Fall paradise.

It was a perfect weather day, and the drive upstate was beautiful in and of itself.

The best sculpture of the day was a picket fence made of mirrors.  It was fascinating!  A rare mirror selfie moment for me, but totally necessary.

Most of these pictures really speak for themselves.  There are a ton, but can you blame me?

Sharon and I, trying to take a pic, unsuccessfully.  

This is when I dared David to to somersaults up the hill.  And he did.  It was amazing and hysterical.

Mel and Jon, just being.  

David, just...I'm not sure what he is doing.

This David saw me climbing and insisted he didn't need to try it himself.  He lied.

Eating some amazing pizza in Cornwall on the way home.  An adorable main street.

Oh, I love Fall.  And I love living on the East Coast for it.  It's my favorite.

Odds and Ends of October

October, among other things, meant:

Spontaneous Girls Nights. Cheetah Pants Not Included.

Sharon, Caroline, Tamara, Cheetah Pants, me, Tara, Sara

Beautiful days and great shots on the iPhone. #nycloveaffair

Quality time with friends.

Seth

Brook, Melanie, Alejandro

Bonus: Introducing Schmackery to Anna, my Vegas friend visiting.  Yes.

LEAVES IN CENTRAL PARK.

I didn't realize how much I liked this shot till I posted it here.  Good job, me.

A visit to the Islamic Cultural Center, the largest mosque on the east coast. And a chat with the Imam.

Stake Conference, a bi-annual church meeting for the LDS Church where we hear from some of our local leaders.  From my place in the choir seats, I snuck this paparazzi shot of those church leaders giving some brotherly love after a great meeting.  I loved it.

Two of my nephews, Sammy and Caleb, getting baptized.

A sneak peek at Eva's Little Red Riding Hood costume.  I CAN'T with the cuteness.

A fire escape and street view in Harlem on a beautiful Saturday morning.

LUCY.  I love this child.  

A good month, I'd say.  And more to come in following posts of Fall hi-jinks.  Stay tuned. :-)