Later fall 2019

 Tessie received a big boo bag from her friend Luke

 Stealth booing outfits

 All of our costumes this year were black

Erin's Mayor's Cup race in Franklin Park ran through this bear enclosure from the old zoo 

Erin was 10 years, 11 months old but got to run with the 9-10 year-olds. This year she has conquered her nerves about running. Her team came in 2nd and she finished #10 with a time of 7:38 for the 1.1 mile course.

 and afterwards a tooth came out

 Tessie and Mommy visited Florida to check on Nana and Grandpa

 Tessie's pal Riley

meanwhile Dad and the girls ziplined,

enjoyed the greenhouse effect in the porch,

and learned how to operate power tools 

 45 ain't so bad

 Sculpey gifts from Caroline and Erin

On a rainy day, the girls busted out the chess board 

We visited Grandma and Grampa and at the local orchard they were handing out free pie samples 

 Grampa gave a tour of the junkies cabinet and explained why Frito-Lay makes Pepsico a great stock to own. "Everybody loves junkies"

Erin's last meet of the season was the USATF New England Regional Junior Olympic race in Rhode Island and it was a cold day. 

For this race Erin ran with the 11-12 year-olds for the first time

Her time of 12:53 for the 3K was a personal best and her team took 2nd place. The team qualified for the Northeast Regional meet on Long Island, but we decided against schlepping down there. (The team finished #1 in that regional qualifier and then went to the national championships in Madison, WI. Brr! They finished #9 in the Junior Nationals) 

 class photos

Fall 2019

First day of school for our 7th grader

and our 5th grader

and our 1st grader

bike outing to Arlington

After sowing a mix of wildflower seeds in the spring, the dominant grower was this huge plant bearing red flowers. Mexican sunflower. The bees and butterflies loved them.

 So much so that when the season became too late to raise monarchs from eggs, we took to catching wild ones that stopped to visit our sunflowers. Here is Caroline the huntress in hiding.

It's rare to see brightly festooned insects here in the Northeast, but this candy-striped leafhopper is a native.

 Sadly I have no pests to blame for my pathetic peanut crop. Left: Virginia peanuts. Right: Dave's Lexington peanuts. And that is all of them. Two plants worth.

This was another record-breaking giant pumpkin for the Topsfield Fair

 Other prize-winning vegetables were less impressive, like these 1st prize green beans. My beans looked better than that.

 Aunt Claire delivered on prizes for completing her Yellowstone/Teton quest

Erin's catty drawing

 One of Erin's classmates set up a challenge to, by the end of the school year, learn all the world capitals for countries with more than 1 million inhabitants

 Yes, we miss Dansa Pausa from Boda Borg

Its replacement Sphinx is not as much fun

Free caricatures, courtesy of East Cambridge Savings Bank

 Columbus Day was perfect for hiking and we scaled Mount Kearsarge

The name One Too Many comes from the resemblance to bloodshot eyeballs

It is great fun having Wilson Farm so close to our home

Friends Chinda and Mike are taking 1-2 years off to travel the US and the world. We were a pit stop in their US tour and it was great to spend time with them. Their journey is chronicled at:
travelknitdance.com

You can see why we took to lying in wait to try to capture them