Wanderings and Peregrinations

We have been so very busy the last several weeks! I managed to report on Hank's first presidential election, but haven't had a chance to get back here and catch up on other things we've been up to. The best events have been our trip to Half Moon Bay and the Nolan Bunch to search for pumpkins and roam a giant corn maze, and our trip to NY where Hank had his first Halloween, cheered for Uncle Mike as he ran the NY Marathon, and sampled his first birthday cake at the early-birthday party thrown by my mother- and father-in-law.

The pumpkin hunt was terrific. Hank was looking very autumnal in overalls, a fair-isle inspired sweater, and a floppy pumpkin hat. The weather at the coast was fall at its best -- foggy and chilly, just right for pumpkin-ing. We found a fantastic pumpkin patch/event with the biggest corn maze I have ever seen, and a pumpkin patch that meandered through a corn field. It was perfect! Hank LOOOVED the pumpkins. We put him down on the ground and let him stumble around and pick out his own. The whole thing was a delight.

NY was a quick and busy trip, but a lot of fun was had. We dressed Hank up on Friday night for Halloween and took him around the neighborhood to visit several neighbors and friends. Unfortunately Hank fell asleep within moments of leaving the house, but it was still fun to push our little Yoda through the streets. The next day most of Henry's extended family came to the house for an early-birthday party for Hank. He was a trooper -- charming the pants off everyone. I was excited that my friend Kate and her baby M were able to come up from NJ, as Hank and M have been betrothed since birth (and they need to take advantage of every opportunity they get to hang out before the inevitable wedding). Then the next day was the marathon. Mike did great! We zipped all over town to meet up with him at spots he'd told us to be. He really planned it out perfectly -- sticking pretty much exactly to the schedule he had planned. We barely made it to a couple of spots, ourselves! And again, Hank was a trooper. It was a good trip.