Fall 2002

Lisa's pictures at UCSB

Roger and Alan like to play being Men in Black, after watching the movie with Sarah. They run around the house, shooting aliens and bad guys.

Lisa decided to make her own muppet. She found directions on the internet.

Roger likes to make a Galaxy Quest ship from his duplos. He pauses the movie on a good view of the ship and then puts his model together.

Husking corn was a family activity this evening.

Occasionally a rocket is launched from Vandenburg at dusk, resulting in a spectacular display as the sunlight hits the vapor trail in the upper atmosphere.

We were treated to this magnificent sunset while on a picnic with the Sweitzers at Oak Creek Park in Agoura.

A slightly later view of the same sunset.

After exchanging a computer component at PC Club, the boys and I enjoyed the little park right next door. It's probably not even 1/2 an acre in size, but it does include a man-made stream and waterfall.

The boys and I decorated the front window for fall and Halloween. We painted trees on the glass and then taped up painted poster-board leaves. Eventually, we also included the purple bat lights and a set of spider lights.

We decided to use some of the scrap lumber in the garage and cut out a large ghost. I made bean bags to toss through the holes.

Then we got even more ambitious and cut out this large pumpkin. Jenny was instrumental in deciding on the cut-outs. The boys and I went to Home Depot and found their clearance shelf for paints. For just $2, we could buy a can of paint that had been opened or rejected for some reason. Since we weren't too particular about tints, we found some yellow and magenta that made us a perfectly good orange.

We also decided to make some fake rocks to help us decorate the front yard for Halloween.

We picked out pumpkins at Valley Farms.

Valley Farms likes to decorate for the season. Aren't these fierce headhunters!

We carved pumpkins with Deb, Keith and Kurt. Roger did his own and Alan advised me.

I dressed up as a witch to 'scare' the trick-or-treaters. We counted over 250.

As it got chillier, we lit the charcoal and roasted marshmallows.

We added a fog machine to our special effects.

The boys dressed as a shark (Roger) and Laa-laa (Alan). For those of you who don't have small children at the moment, Laa-laa is a teletubbie, as featured on PBS.

Jenny dressed as Mary Jemison, a white girl kidnapped in Pennsylvania by Indians and French soldiers during the French and Indian War (~1750). By the time Mary had a chance to return to white society, she had had 8 children and decided to remain with the Indians. She was known as the White Woman of the Genesee and was highly respected by the Seneca.

Sarah chose this costume because it reminded her of one of the music videos she likes.

Sarah's magnificent pumpkin carving. It even has hair!

Jenny's, Roger's, and Alan's pumpkins.
Jenny and Roger did their own carving and Alan directed me in carving his pumpkin.

Have you ever seen pumpkin pie like this? Sarah did the decorating.

We were all together for Thanksgiving, including Lisa. Alan is not in this picture because...

he fell asleep on the bottom step.

Sarah had a rare bout of illness, necessitating her first absence from school in years, at least due to being sick. Her boyfriend, Chris, brought her a dozen long-stemmed roses to cheer her up. (The relationship with Chris was short-lived, only about a month, but they're still friends.)