Happy Halloween!

When I was little, this was my favorite holiday-dressing up, getting candy, going to parties, what's not to like?  I remember when I was 4 or 5, my brother had chicken pox on Halloween, so I took his trick or treat bag and asked for candy for him too. My mom said I would tell people he had "chicken pops" and they thought it was so cute they were happy to give us extra candy! I remember several Halloween parties too, one at our house.  One year when I was still young, my uncle (who was young enough to be more of an older brother) set up a big sheet covered ghost on the front porch and then rigged it with a hidden speaker in it.  He could peek through the curtains on the window to see when kids came up to the door and talk through a microphone and make the ghost talk to them. Had more that a few screams that night, but I don't think it scared many away! My parents took me back to the room where he was sitting so that I could be in on the joke and not be scared! Lots of good memories.

We'll be going trick or treating with 2 of our 3 local grands tonight. The oldest is 12 and I think she's going to dress up and hand out candy. Before we moved close to the grandkids, we would turn out all of the lights and pretend we weren't home, but being here where we can be with them has made Halloween fun all over again!

Vacation

We have always wanted to go to Nova Scotia and we finally did so last week. We only had a week so it was kind of a whirlwind trip. We flew out to Portland, Maine on Oct. 20th, rented a car and spent the night, then drove the loop around Acadia National Park. 10 years ago, we made a trip to New England to see the fall foliage and didn't make it to the park. Now we have our Golden Age pass and got in free! It was beautiful.

(I have so many photos from the trip, but I'll try not to overload you!) After Acadia, we drove into Canada and spent the night in St. John, New Brunswick. We drove to Whycocomaugh, Cape Breton the next day. We were afraid we might have missed the autumn leaves leaving so late in October, but this year they lasted until we left!

We drove the Cabot Trail around Cape Breton on Tuesday the 23rd. It was amazing!

We returned to Whycocomaugh that night and then drove to Halifax, NS Wednesday. These falls were on the way.

The next day, we drove around the southern tip of Nova Scotia-we saw so many beautiful places and met some lovely people.

We spent Thursday night back in the Halifax area and then headed back to Portland Maine Friday.  Saturday we were able to visit the Portland Head and Cape Elizabeth Lighthouses before we had to head for the airport. It was cold, wet and windy as we caught the season's first Nor'easter.

We got home about 11pm Saturday night. We enjoyed this wonderful trip so much, but there's no place like home!

October!

It's no secret that Autumn is my favorite time of the year! It's still pretty green this far south, but the first leaves are beginning to change, the days are milder and the nights are cooler. I'm ready!