First Snow

We got snow two weeks ago (October 26th). It just missed the record for earliest recorded snow with accumulation in Columbia, which KOMU tells me was on October 23rd back in 2017. I was wondering if the kids might have a snow day right when they'd just gotten to go back to school - and if they do end up having a snow day, will they get the day off or will they just have to work remotely via Zoom??

 I was so tickled when I pulled in the driveway after work and saw a snowman in the front yard. 

 

Can you see that Leah made a little snowman out on the deck, too?

Our yard looked the least snowy on Monday since James rolled it all up for his snowman, but then it looked the most snowy by Tuesday and Wednesday since everyone's else had melted.

Apple Tree

Sam and the kids picked apples on September 5th. The squirrels got a big bounty this year, but we had plenty to make pie and several jars of apple butter. Leah's a big fan of an apple butter sandwich. 

The new tree we planted is still not producing - I keep thinking any year now. Here's old faithful: 

And the kids doing their bit: 

 

 

And more of Sam's budding iPhone nature photography hobby: 

 It's just the one small tree, despite the plethora of photographs 😆

Here's the haul:

Plus several artistic photos by Sam.

And the kids:

 Last but not least,  the pie. I used the apple cookie cutter for extra crust decorations, but Amelie thought they looked like pumpkins.

Halloween, Continued

I think this is my third Halloween at the library, but the first time I actually had to work - I'd taken off when I was scheduled my usual 5pm-9pm shift, but since the holiday fell on a Saturday this year I was working during the day. Here's my costume:

James didn't seem too invested in his costume, and we weren't able to go look around at the shop for inspiration. He looks a little like Dash from the Incredibles (actually a little like Mr. Incredible while we're at it) and said he'd rather get this one than the similarly cheap Venom suit I found on Facebook. Later in the night, a kid yelled out 'Hey Dash!' and then they raced for a bit. 

Amelie was very invested in her costume, which, as per usual, is a relatively obscure reference. She's a Nicheling, which is an animal from a video game called "Niche." This one's a fox. 

Here's a screen shot of the game for reference: 

Leah started out wanting to be "Tigger the tiger," then changed her mind a few times along the way, then landed back on Tigger. She just dug through the costume box to make her decision. 

One of the runners-up: Mario Alligator Spiderman.

Waiting on it to get dark outside: 

Our friends came over and walked around the big loop with us: 

I passed out candy while Leah went around the block with Sam. I would guess maybe 100 kids came through in all. One of my bee antennae broke! Emo bee. 

Here's Sam chucking candy down the chute to some early arrivals. Only about a third of the kids caught the candy at the bottom! ha!

This is one of our neighbors with a candy chute - there were 4 on our block and then quite a few folks sat out buckets. I'd say about the same number of kids came through trick-or-treating as usual but there were fewer houses passing out candy. 

Rebecca had another chute (not pictured!) she always gives out full-sized candy bars - even to the adults. 

How it ended: 

The loot: