Pumpkins Everywhere!

Friday night was the annual pumpkin carving this year. There was an even bigger turnout than last year, I will need to consider adding onto my house to make room next year. It would be a good excuse to add a front porch to the house.

Here is a few shots of the pumpkin massacre in my living room. I would list everyone's name that is in each of the pictures, but most of the people that will be looking this will know who everyone is. [click on each picture to see a larger image]









































Here is one of the Tiggers that were running happily through all the chaos (don't worry, there were no injuries)(at least not to the Tiggers, one of the carvers did sustain the first recorded injury in all of the annual gatherings)(no stitches were required)
























Michela is in the foreground of this picture. She certainly seems to enjoy stabbing the poor helpless vegetable. (in the background is Karine in her new bouffant hairdo)























Here is a group in the kitchen...


















more living room people


















And here is what you have been waiting for, the final pumpkins!












It took a few shots to work out the right camera setting...























Here is a couple of group shots...











































And Annie trying on the boufant..

Mt Catherine hike

This is a hike from a few weeks ago that I haven't found time to post. This is Mount Catherine, which is off of Interstate 90, it is a quick hike to get above the trees and have a great view. This link takes you to trail notes from the Seattle PI.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/97336_hike28.shtml

To reach the trail, you take a somewhat rough gravel road. There were seven of us, so I took advantage of Greg leaving his van with me to provide bus service to everyone. The van made the trip, but it wasn't as smooth as a truck would have been.

Here is part of the group I was hiking with (L-R: Steve, Janeen, Mike, Greg)























The colors are (were) hitting their peak on this hike. I think this year has been better than most for the vibrancy of color.























In this picture, Janeen almost blends in with all the red...


















This is a dorky looking picture...



















And we submitted! and felt proud until the point where the 80 year old man appeared, and he didn't even seem winded.


















There were a few "peekaboo" views along the trip up, including this one...







The views from the summit were pretty impressive, including a view of Mt.Rainier.