For a rainy day

Halloween!

Halloween this year was almost too fantastic for words. We high-tailed it to Derek & Sara's, jumped on the cruisers, which had been gussied to the hilt with lights, and rolled all over Olympia. You wouldn't believe the hooting and hollering and very near fainting we witnessed every time we turned a corner. Someone in a car stopped paying attention to what he was doing and drove up onto a curb as we rode past. Other cars slowed down and honked for all they were worth. Parents clapped and small trick-or-treaters ran after us, begging to know, "WHERE did you get those bikes?!" One little boy was heard muttering, "Who ever heard of a kid on a motorcycle?!" in a somewhat offended tone - I suppose that's what we get for whizzing by at the speed of light, bikes a-blazing. And then, towards the end of our cruise, another boy said, with awe in his voice, "Are you human?....My name is John..." as though he was in the presence of some majestic, other-world creature and thought he should introduce himself. I don't think any of us stopped smiling the entire time we were out. Never mind candy - the biggest treats definitely went to the four of us; it's hard to beat bringing so much happiness and delight to so many people. We're already planning next year's outing :)





This gang of bikers chased us down the street, were excited to have their picture taken with Jan Michael's warhammer, and pronounced us both 'Beast' and 'Legit.' We now know what it must have been like for the Beatles :)

Who the Wild Thing Is

Caleb is 3!

This is a day late because his auntie dropped the ball, but please join us in celebrating 3 years of Caleb. Hugs and kisses to you, little one - we're so glad you're ours!

October

These are the Japanese Gardens at the Arboretum. If you live around here, and have any sense at all :), you will hop in the car with the ones you love this very minute and get yourselves there. Gracious sakes, it takes my breath away.

Birthday boys

On Saturday we celebrated the wonder nephews' birthdays - Derek's 5th and Caleb's 3rd. As is often the case with this family, it was a very somber, subdued affair.






Every time we're with them, they make us love them more. It's a good gig, this uncle & auntie thing.

Fall all around

First of all, this is the tree that sits at the end of our driveway. We're dazzled by it every day this time of year, and it's one of the things that makes saying good-bye to summer awfully easy.

Second, a recipe from our friend Kristin, who is really very handy in the kitchen. I baked the cake just this afternoon and our house smells fantastic.

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp allspice
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs

Icing:
2 Tbsp plus 2 tsp well-shaken buttermilk
1 1/2 c powdered sugar

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter bundt pan generously & dust with flour, knocking out excess.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour through salt. Whisk together pumpkin, buttermilk, and vanilla in another bowl.
Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl at med-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5minutes. Add eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix until batter is just smooth.
Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top & bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes. Invert rack over the cake and reinvert onto rack. Cool 10 minutes more.
While cake is cooling, whisk together buttermilk and powdered sugar until smooth. Drizzle icing over the warm cake; cool cake completely. Icing will harden slightly.