Follow the pumpkin path

Halloween in Arcadia isn't nearly as much fun as it was in Minneapolis. Our neighborhood is only marginally walkable and not many of our neighbors celebrate the holiday. We drove to another town to trick or treat, and I think we only had two groups of kids stop by during the night.

Little witch

Ellen is dressed as Hermione Granger for Halloween. Today, she wore her costume for school. She loved the tie and cardigan and, of course, using her wand.

Full size

The grandparents insisted on buying Ellen's first full-size bed. Here we are at the mattress store, where much intense jump-testing was conducted on mattresses.

Vanna presents...

Ellen is happy to show off our jack-o-lanterns, before she costumes up for the big night.

Golden hour

It's mid-October, and the sun is setting earlier every day. That's something I expect. But the air is still warm, the flowers are blooming, and the palm trees are ... doing their thing. I kind of like this part of living in SoCal.

Dem bones

OK, so I work at a medical school. I walk by the bookstore every day. They've decorated the windows for Halloween. However, the windows were already full of medical props and body parts. Can you guess which of these things are Halloween decorations?

Butterballs

Butter turkeys, obviously a takeoff on the butter Easter lambs. I missed seeing the butter pumpkins last month.

My little giraffe

Oh, she really got the hang of trick-or-treating this year. Three blocks in our candy-rich neighborhood netted her about five pounds of treats.

The Crusher

Stomping on some leaves on a nice fall day.