Happy Halloween!

 

"Mom, stop taking pictures I want to trick or treat!"

A football cake?...no problem, I'll even throw in a stadium

No problem if you are okay with spending a whole day working on this.  I did some research online, baked 3 sheet cakes, and made tons of frosting.  It's fun to let my creative side go. The goal posts were made with pretzel sticks and melted chocolate.  The hubby had the idea of adding the lego men. The middle guy didn't fall over he's snapping the ball.  I think this cute little boy appreciated the effort!

Gone Fishing?

 Nope, but I did head out to Swetsville Zoo.  I hadn't been since the kids were little (I think Q had to be propped up for pictures).  I had to get away from the fishbowl my house has been for the past couple of weeks.  The roofers are done, the painters are almost done, and the windows will be done in two weeks.  I need my space back!  This visit provided some much needed relaxation...

 until I ran into this dinosaur!

 Okay, who are we kidding?  I did need to get out of the house but it was also my last 70 degree day for awhile and I wanted to take the jeep out for a spin with the top off.  I headed over to the Strauss Cabin next.  I'd never seen it before and I guess this will be the closest I ever get thanks to those darn arsonists.

What happens when hail hits a garden?

The hail storm wreaked havoc on my garden/veggie eating this summer.  It seems amazing looking at these pictures that I actually harvested anything this year.

Hail storm end of June:

 3 Weeks Later:

 End of August:

 No matter how good it looks it still took a while to get anything to ripen.  Notice there are no red tomatoes in the above picture.  I got my first one August 22.  It was tiny and I had to split it three ways!  I'm glad I have a veggie loving son but I sure wasn't that day!

The crop was slow to come in but I was still able to have some of my favorite delicacies.

Roasted peppers w/ cream cheese and bacon:

 Roasted carrots:

 Beets and swiss chard with feta and balsamic vinegar:

I told the kids that these carrots were married:

 The replanted cucumbers spread like crazy and were dangling all over my trellis and arborvitaes.

 Finally, some variety (cucumber, carrots, purple potatoes, and garlic):

 After my first tomato (remember how small he was) I didn't get anymore until the end of September.  I finally had two good size ones so I had my first BLT September 26th.  It was good but the tomatoes aren't as flavorful and some are a bit mushy (due to some cold weather).

 My last bountiful fall harvest:

 My lone cantaloupe (pretty flavorful):

 My lone watermelon still needed some more time to ripen and grow (he was only about the size of a softball.)

I still have 20-25 largish tomatoes out there that I hope ripen before they freeze!