Boo!

To continue the Halloween tradition, we again met up with Mel and family at Smith Family Farm in Brentwood. This year Pop-Pop got to go with us (my mom was in PA) so we had an extra pumpkin carrier. Hee hee! (And I know there are too many pics, you know how I have a problem with that - see Aruba post.)

Here's the requisite group shot. Per usual, Mel's trained kids are all staring at the camera and smiling and Nikos is acting like we are making him sit on a bed of nails.

This is where he started to cry and try to scramble off the haystack but Mel says he was merely trying to show us the top of his costume. That sounds less bratty so we will go with that explanation.

And a flashback to 2007...

This is where we practice the dragon roar. To be specific, I actually ask "what does a lion say?" because the past 3+ months or so we have been working on that in anticipation that Nikos was going to be a lion. Of course, slacker that I am, by the time I tried to order the costume (October 1st!) it was out of stock EVERYWHERE and I wasn't willing to risk divorce to buy it on eBay for the cost of a flight to LA. Thus - purple dragon! This is Mason's costume from '06. I will try to find a picture of him in it and scan it for comparison.

Flashback to 2007...funny that I ended up sticking him in a purple costume two years in a row. No purple next year, I promise!

So, after realizing that it was practically 80 degrees out and the poor kids (and Taki too...but I digress) were roasting we took off their costumes. This caused a few of them (Nikos and Maile specifically) to become a little bit white trash (some more than others.) Oh well, at least they weren't hot and we dodged the bullet of Taki taking his shirt off and scaring the kids with his hairy back. (I would say hairy chest too but we all know, he's no Nego.)

Nikos checks out the baby goats. I feel like he should have a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his little onesie sleeve.

Climbing hay bails.

I finally get Mason and Maile to stop hay bail leaping and stand still for a picture. I am amazed Mason didn't reinjure his clavicle (see Mel's blog) with the athletic feats he was demonstrating.

Heather (practicing for a baby girl) and Kira and Pop-Pop and Nikos. My dad is actually having to actively restrain Nikos who just wanted to go back to crawling around in the dirt. Dad says his new nickname is Pigpen. I think he must have been crawling and rolling around in the dirt for 20 minutes. I was just pretending he was someone else's child. Parents these days have no control!

This is actually Kira's scary face when you she gets too close to a tree.

Watching cousin Maile to see if she is going to get anything in the country store. (I put his Halloween shirt on him so he wouldn't look so WT.)

Chubby prego face Heather makes a blog appearance. Prepare to see more of her in the coming weeks.

In the corn maze...like father like son.

Waiting for the hayride to the pumpkin patch.

Pumpkins!

Mason shows off his acrobatic skills.

Nikos attempts to imitate Mason...with a slightly different result.

Family Pumpkin Patch picture. Note the long sleeve orange shirt that I asked Taki to wear, contrary to the fact that I am wearing a tank top, I didn't realize it would be so hot! Taki wanted to wear his Boo shirt but I said since he wears it all year it didn't make quite the same statement he was going for.

Family Pumpkin Patch pic 2007. Apparently I was less b*tchy a year ago because I relented on the Boo shirt.

Finally at home with our pumpkins! If you are counting, this is wardrobe change #4 for Nikos. We had to change lil' Pigpen's clothes after we left the patch and before we went to lunch with everyone. Oh yeah, you are making a statement when you are too dirty to go to lunch at a family pizza place in Antioch! Go Nikos!