Cute Kid Pix October 2025

More photos that didn't make their own post...

Our friends were out of the country for most of the month, so we wound up picking up their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) distributions from Gorman Farms in Columbia. It was quite a haul. We gave some of it away, but managed to eat or freeze the majority of it.

First haul of veg

The most creative use was finding a recipe for muffins that used the beets (not a popular vegetable in our house). The recipe called for grinding up oat flakes to make flour and adding chocolate chips to make it flavorful. The results were pretty good, though I was the only one to eat more than two (over several days, not at one sitting!).

Chocolate/beet muffins

The kids also did some cooking with the veg we got, but it might have only been the cilantro that they used in this dish.

Measuring soy sauce

Combining in the skillet

Serving from the skillet

While up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, we visited Central Park and explored the Garden of Five Senses. The kids were a little bored but it was fun for the grownups. 

Sign of the garden

Sound of the garden

On the way home, I stopped off at Chickie's Rock for some geocaching and amazing views.

The Susquehanna River and me

Unobstructed river

More of the gorgeous view

Yet more view

I needed to get gas and the GPS pointed me to a nearby Turkey Hill gas station. Turkey Hill is also known for its ice cream. Low and behold! the gas station was right in front of their museum! The kids wish they had driven home with me that day.

Yeah, sure, I only bought gas here

The town had some interesting duplexes with completely separate sides!

Does Two-Face live here?

Our dance studio had their Costume Dance for Halloween. My wife and I went as galaxies!

We light up your life!

Shark and Greek god dance

My son went trick-or-treating as Iron Man and made a big haul with his friends.

What's with the dangling bits?

Cute Kid Pix October 2022

More photos that did not make their own post...

My eldest's marching band kept performing through October. We went to the games but only one picture came out well enough to post.

The October 7th Game

I went on a field trip with the youngest's class to the Maryland Science Center. The first part of the visit was seeing the Imax film Flight of the Butterflies, about the migration pattern of Monarch butterflies across the North American continent. The movie was in 3D. 

Looking cool

The kids went crazy a couple of times during the showing. At one point, a monarch caterpillar is facing off against some ants, which normally would not be a fear-inducing sight. But this was displayed on the three-story tall Imax screen in 3D, which makes the bugs enormous and in your face. It reminded me of those old 1950s radioactive giant insect movies.

After the show, I lead a group of five boys around to various exhibits. The final thing we did was an engineering challenge. We helped a little monster climb up some shelves to various items. The kids worked in pairs (yes, one pair had three boys). My son and his partner had one success and then an even better success.

Up to your eyeballs in monsters!

Getting past the eyeball!

Since it was a field trip, I wasn't taking photos of other kids.

The Friday before Halloween, my wife and I dressed up for a costume dance at our dance studio, That's Dancing. It was a lot of fun.

Cruella and Indy

My eldest is on his high school's debate team and had a Saturday competition. He came in second in his category, which is impressive for a freshman!

My picture was too slow to catch him receiving the medal

The venue for the contest

Closeup of the tower

Near the venue is a field that had the original stadium for Baltimore's baseball and football teams. The area has been turned into housing and a YMCA. The field is still there and is for athletic competitions, but it seems too small compared to the stadiums we have now.

No stands for the fans

Johns Hopkins is nearby, with a statue of the Good Shepherd on its lawn.

Good Shepherd sculpture

Our youngest dressed up as Link from Legend of Zelda for Halloween.

The tunic!

Hyrule warrior!

Using candy for spelling

Halloween 2019

We had a fun Halloween this year with some new and some old costumes.

Firefighter--an old reliable

Rainbow-themed girl

Spider-Man and his haul

In this universe, Spider-Man's secret identity is someone else not seen in any of the Marvel Universes. He is in fact another hero from another profession. Congrats to Spider-Man for winning the World Series incognito!

Another identity!

The weather forecast threatened severe thunderstorms and possibly a tornado. We had some windy conditions but no rain and only the occasional far-distant lightening flashes--the kind when you don't even hear the thunder. The temperature was in the mid-70s, so fairly comfortable. The night was nice enough for the end of October.

A few houses had more than a few decorations.

A house with a lot going on

I noticed this year as we walked around that some people just sat inside their front door and surfed the internet on their laptop as they waited for new trick-or-treaters to come their way. I wonder if that is popular outside of our neighborhood.

We had a fun time and should have enough candy to last us till Christmas at least.

The Wall-crawler is also the Candy-protector!

For my scary movie after the kids went to bed, I watched Ti West's The House of the Devil. I'd seen it recommended by the B-Movie Catechism guy last Halloween and finally got around to watching it. The movie is set in the 1980s and captures the 80s film style really well. The story is about a college girl desperate for money so she takes a babysitting job one night. That night coincides with a lunar eclipse and the house is out in the middle of nowhere and the "babysitting" job is really for the guy's mother-in-law, so the girl really has a lot of signs warning her not to take the job. She does anyway with some horrifying results. The opening title card tells how 70% of Americans in the 1980s believed in Satanic cults that kidnapped people, so viewers definitely had a leg up on her for what was about to happen.

This poster is a fake-out--the house is never on fire

I liked the movie but the set-up was really slow, as was the second act. The young lady did a lot of exploring in the house, with a fun solo dance number typical of a 1980s movie. The third act was exciting and gut-wrenching. I'm glad I watched it but probably won't watch it again.

Halloween 2018

My youngest one dressed up as a ghost for Halloween this year. He's still a preschooler, so we went to the library's spooky story time with costume parade afterward. We had a great time.

A guy with a lot on his mind

Parading through the library

Visit by the t-rex!

Getting treats from Ursula!

The librarian was dressed as Ursula the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid, but she promised to be good for the day. At the end of class, in addition to giving out treats, she read some Halloween-themed jokes:

Q. What is Dracula's favorite holiday?
A: Fangsgiving.
Q. Why does a witch ride a broom?
A. Because a vacuum cleaner is too heavy.
Q. What do you call a witch's garage?
A. A broom closet.
Q. Why did the ghost go to the carnival?
A. To ride the roller-ghoster.

A fun time was had by all and it was a good opportunity to test the costume out.

After dinner, we went to Carroll Baldwin Hall for their haunted house, which was delightful and short. Just the older kids went, along with a reluctant grandpa.

A haunted hall?

This graveyard wasn't here the last time we visited!?!

Going in to our DOOOOOMMM!

Waiting in line

The organizers gave us the option for scary or not-so-scary. We opted for scary and had a fun trip through. At the end, they had a table with candy!

Snacks for the brave

Back at the house, we suited up and headed out for trick-or-treating. My daughter wanted to take the year off, so she stayed behind and gave out candy. The weather was so nice, we set up a station at the end of the driveway.

Jazz man

Ghost 2!

Giving out candy

The candy haul was impressive. Of interest was the most educational candy, Twix, which teaches you your left from your right.

Twix

The non-candy item this year was Play-Doh. We got two or three jars!

I guess it's edible