Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza

Have I mentioned that I love Halloween?  I mean, I love it.  Steven & I have carved pumpkins almost every year since we've been in the house.  I've decorated the house.  And now with John, we get to dress up and trick or treat!

We bought 4 pumpkins this year, one for each of us.

Steven decided to carve outside, to cut down on the mess.  He also decided to use power tools.

Goggles on.

Safety first. 

Riley's pumpkin.

More power tools.

Cutie pie with Lightning McQueen pumpkin.

Lightning McQueen, Mater, Haunted House, Googly Eyes

This is my pumpkin.

Next year I need to find something a bit more difficult.

Such a poser, no?

Do you know how difficult it is to get a good picture of both John & Riley?

Hey guys pose behind the pumpkins.

Look over here.

This way?

"Hey buddy, whatcha hidin' in your hand?"

"Is it a cookie?"

"yeh, I think it is a cookie"

"Oh, it's a good one too"

"Now?  Can I have the cookie now?"

 Pumpkin joy.

Date Night...Uh...Afternoon

My friend's daughter is a year younger than John.  And she is absolutely adorable.

And you know John..."you hold my hand?"

And then, my friend's sister-in-law and kids joined us.

John was estatic, he could hold hands with TWO girls.

I forgot to ask my friend if I could post the pictures so I've chosen to post these non-identifying pictures of the kids.  These are still cute pictures too.

Camping - John Style

Did I mention that we promised John a backyard camp-out?  Crazy, I know.  But the weather was still nice in September and we made good our promise.

An air mattress!  Are you nuts?  Did you really think that I would sleep on the ground?  As if.  But good GOD, the air mattress took up the entire tent.  I told Steven that it would only fit me & John and he & Riley could sleep in the house.

John went to bed first.

Dad helped tuck him in.

 He wanted to tell Ghost Stories.

And then I went to bed.

Riley: "hey guys, whatcha doin'?"

Riley: "outside?  hahaha.  You're kidding, right?"

Riley: "RIGHT?"

And despite being told otherwise, Steven crawled into the tent around midnight.  He woke up me & John and then with the size and air pressure of the air mattress, he moved around and flipped me off the mattress.

I picked up my stuff and went into the house.

Poor Riley.  He was curled up on his pillow with another pillow over him for warmth.  All this was in front of the chiminea.  I swear he was crying when I told him to come into the house with me.

Sadly, I never got alot of sleep.  Stupid drunk neighbour girls.  Stupid teens.  And that's all I'm going to say about them.

The next morning I let Riley out to "do his business" and when I went into the backyard later I noticed that Riley had pooped all over his pillow and in front of the chiminea.  Okay Riley, point taken.

Justin!

Look who comes to visit us!

Justin and Jonathan are sons of my cousins. 

They are not twins.  They do not look like each other, well not much.  This is an important fact.

It's so awesome that the boys make the time to come see John.  If they are passing through town, they will almost always make a point to call or visit.  They also unnecessarily buy stuff for John.   And they also play with him.  I mean they wrestle and get right down and play with him.  Jonathan even went into the McDonald's playland with him!

After each visit we endure days and days of:

"I love Justin"

Completely random he will burst out: "I love Justin"

so cute... for the first hour.

so irritating after that first hour.

This is Justin.

Goofballs.

 I think just recently John figured out that Justin and Jonathan were two different people.



Halifax

We left PEI on a Sunday.  Our plan was to drive from the cottage to the ferry terminal, take the ferry, drive to the hotel, meet Barb & Will and tour around Halifax.

We thought we'd take the 11:00 am ferry.  It was recommended that we get there an hour prior to departure.  So we tried.  Oh trust me, we tried.

We checked out of our cabin.  We programmed the GPS and drove to the ferry.  Right before Charlottetown, the GPS told us that we should drive straight, however the big  BIG sign indicated that we should turn left.  Luckily it was at a red light.  I pulled out the map, Steven watched the minivan behind us do the exact same thing.  I figured out where we were and made the call.

TURN LEFT!!!!!

So, essentially we followed the highway signs to the ferry.  And as we were zipping along, I kept saying "we're not going to make the 11:00am ferry".

10:45am
Me: "we're not going to make the ferry"
Steven: "be positive, we'll make the ferry"

10:50am
Me: "we're not going to make the ferry"
Steven: "yes we will"

10:55am
Me: "follow the signs.  We're not going to make the ferry"
Steven: "sure we will"

11:00am
Steven: "we're not going to make the ferry"
Me: "I have to pee"


Ferry - PEI to Nova Scotia.

Man, they really cram the vehicles in.  I had to climb over the seat and out the side van door.

Halifax hotel

There are benefits to booking in advance.

We like our space, we booked a suite for the same rate as a standard hotel.

After cleaning up, we went to the harbour for dinner.

It was the fringe festival.

Gorgeous night.  So many people, so many booths.

Auntie Two Barb and John

We booked a harbour cruise.

Probably shouldn't have booked the sunset tour.  It's a bit later and much more of a "booze cruise" atmosphere. (bad parent!)

The first part was really nice.

But then it rained so John & I went down below.

We had company for a bit but I'm pretty sure me & a 4-yr old cramped their style.

Back at the hotel.

Next day.

Checking out of the hotel.

Puppies, Oh My!

When the backyard was "under construction", Riley had to do his business in the front.  So one morning before work, I was walking Riley before I had to get to work.

No sooner had Riley & I walked in the front door but I heard a thud and a screaming dog.  It was a horrible noise.  I shuffled Riley in and ran back outside.  I stood on the front walk, looked down the street and saw a car drive away.  And then I saw a tiny little dog come running towards me on the sidewalk.  I tried to call him to me but he skittered away and ran down the block. 

Then I saw my neighbours walk out onto the road with a towel and return to the boulevard with a bundle.

OH MY GOD, it was a dog.  A tiny white dog.  A tiny white dog that was also hit by the car. 

So I walk down and chat with my neighbor.  I bend down and cuddle the dog and talk to the dog.  As I'm doing this, the dog rallys and gets up and walks.  And then my neighbour picks up the towel and walks back into her house.

What the fuck?  Seriously?  You leave me with the dog?

So the dog & I walked back to the house.  I left the dog on my step and went inside.  The little dog and Riley sniffed each other through the screen door while I got the phone and figured out what to do.

I went back outside and scooped up the dog in my jacket and carried him up the block to hopefully find his owner.  No luck.

I called the city to arrange a pick-up.  But they didn't open until 7:00am so I waited.  The little dog & I waited. 

Do you know what my options were?  They couldn't pick up right away rather "they'd be there in a couple hours".  So if I didn't have a secure place to hold the dog, then I could drop him off at a vet office or I'd have to let him go.  Let him loose.  To probably get him by another car.

Do you know what I did?  I woke up Steven.  And he came down and took care of the dog so I could get to work.  Initially I had locked Riley in the bedroom while Steven came to see the little dog.  And holy smokes, Riley cried and barked and made a fuss.  So introduced the little dog to Riley.  It did not go well.  Riley tried to eat the other dog and so he was banished from the living room.

I still can't believe that there was a car that hit not one but TWO dogs and then drove off.  Fucking bastard.

A couple days later, Steven thinks that he saw the little white dog walking with his person.  Hopefully a happy ending.

Do you see the red "leash"?

It's actually a Christmas ribbon with bells.

John uses it as a leash for his stuffed Spot dog.