Fall Fun

GREAT PUMPKINS: The day dawned foggy, but we didn't let that stop us. I wanted to go on a longish walk, and that we did. First, we had to scale "Mt. Magnolia," straight up Dravus to the hill's peak. From there, it was due north several blocks to a front yard we visit once a year about this time. Its address is 3707 29th Ave. West, but it's commonly referred to a "the pumpkin house."

This year's visit did not disappoint. My oh my, what large pumpkins this gardener has grown!  So many lovely fall scenes in that small front yard.

FRIDAY REWIND:  My apologies for the lack of blog post on Friday. We were on the road all morning, and all afternoon we were engaged in wedding-related activities at McMenamin's Edgefield, in Troudale, Ore.  It was an outdoor ceremony, and thankfully the weather was very agreeable.

The wedding was absolutely lovely. Our best wishes to the newlyweds.

GRAVITY MATTERS: We 'finally' made it to see "Gravity" this afternoon. I say 'finally' because CJ has been pestering and pestering us since before it debuted. This weekend, in fact, he told us he was losing his patience. We, of course, told him he needed to chill out.

This afternoon we headed to one of Pacific Science Center's IMAX 3D theaters and saw it.

I'm not going to ruin it for anyone other than to say it was AmAzInG. On the way out I said, "I can finally breathe." I haven't been in a theater that quiet and rapt since, well, ever. Ninety minutes absolutely flew by.

Tonight, the kids (at my urging) both checked out the spacewalk experience game on http://gravitymovie.warnerbros.com.  I tried it for a couple of seconds and quickly started having flashbacks to the part of the movie where ... wait, no, I'm not going to tell you. Just go see the movie!

NEWSBOY:  While the "Gravity" credits were rolling, CJ asked, "Can we go to McMenamin's?" a favorite haunt near Seattle Center. And so off we went.

Just outside of its entrance is a row of newspaper boxes. I saw one called "China Daily," and decided it would be 25 cents well spent for some social studies learning.

CJ is very interested in the government of North Korea and China, and so I thought this would be right up his alley. He pored over it while inhaling a hamburger for dinner.

RIDDLE ME THIS: One of the benefits of having Rick around more is that the kids get to check out some of the school work he's giving to his classroom full of third graders. Tonight, he was grading papers that included a list of riddles. I challenged the kids to try to solve them. Care to give it a go? If you know the answer, comment!

#1  I come one in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years.
#2  When you put this in a heavy wooden box, the box will become lighter.
#3  A cowboy rides into town on Friday. He stays two days, then leaves on Saturday.  How can this be?