It was like Christmas for the girls, between the time change and the excitement of Halloween, they were up bright and early this morning. They got to wear their costumes to school today. Here they are just before going out for Trick or Treating tonight.

The girls posing with the pumpkins.

We started out around 6:00pm this evening and things were very quiet on our street. Some people went to the trouble of posting signs.

Others were very generous.

They covered a lot of ground in the neighbourhood. Even Claudia lasted pretty long. The weather was perfect. In the end we didn't get that many kids to the door, probably less than 40, a big factor is the "no sidewalk" on our side of the street.

On Sunday we carved our pumpkins, we even bought a size specific pumpkin to go with the first one we had. Here are the girls posing with the pumpkins.

First step is to clean out the pumpkin guts.

Gillian getting right into it.

Then we needed to sort the seeds, so we can roast them later.

Angela making sure the pumpkin is empty.

Next we tape on the pattern and transfer the pattern to the pumpkin. This year Angela and Claudia were a big help.

The result is an Ernie and Bert set of pumpkins that look like this in the light.

And like this when they are lit up.

I was down in Nova Scotia this week, you can check out some entries on my work blog. There was no direct impact from Hurricane Wilma, but it was a factor in a good nor'easter storm that hit the province. At the site we only got 39mm of rain and peak gusts of about 55km/h.

Here are the pumpkins I carved the last four years. It started with Blue from Blue's Clues in 2001.

Then it was Scooby Doo in 2002.

Followed by Gary from SpongeBob SquarePants in 2003.

Last year I did Charlie Brown.

And this year it will be ????

It was Orange and Black Spirit Day at school today. Here are the girls decked out in their orange and black.

In Gillian's class, whoever had the most black and orange on got to sit at the teacher's desk for the day, while the teacher had to sit at the student's desk. Gillian and a classmate tied for the most points, so they got to sit at the teacher's desk for half a day each.

Monday was Angela's Brownie Enrollment ceremony. Here is a picture of her in her uniform.

A couple of pictures from the ceremony.

It was a busy week for me at work. We were holding a training workshop and I was the (un)lucky one who had to prepare and present it. There were a couple of guys from Thunder Bay, one from Vancouver, a couple out of our office and a lady from Cuba. She is in the process of setting up a precipitation program in her country.

In other news, it was picture day on Tuesday, so hopefully the girls had their best smiles on.

More artwork by Claudia with her vampire teeth in place.

Gillian wearing her "thinking cap" as she works on her homework.

We are down to two this weekend, Gillian is off to Guide camp until Sunday. They are camping at the Scout camp just east of Orangeville. Gillian decked out in her camp hat waiting to go.

A picture of our pumpkin. We picked it up when we went apple picking a couple of weeks ago. Still thinking about what to carve on it. Closer to Halloween I will post some of our past pumpkin carvings.

Claudia came home today with a picture she coloured at school.They had a colouring contest in her class and guess who was the winner! When asked why she won, she replied "It was because I stayed in the lines." The judges were the grade eight helpers. Here is her masterpiece.

This is Claudia with her prize.

Some of the current artwork from school. Angela and her totem pole.

Claudia and her leaf buddy.

A picture Angela and Claudia did on the computer today using Crayola's Make A Masterpiece.

We went out to Carolyn and Danny's place on Sunday for turkey and to celebrate Alex's 4th birthday.

Gillian and Emi

Emi was trying on new shoes.

Angela was taking pictures, here are two she took of the turkey.

Another photo by Angela. Gillian helping Alex put together his aliens.

Cake time

Gillian after a jello jiggler.

Emi and her cheesey smile.

If you wait long enough, you can get a nicer photo.

They have a big slug living outside their front door. The girls got to see it before we left, they wanted to bring it home.

We went to Dundas today for turkey dinner and target practice. Claudia in need of a haircut.

After dinner Grandma pulled out an elastic band six shooter and targets for the kids to play with. Luckily there were no casualties. Grandma showing the kids how it's done.

The gallery looks on.

Gillian concentrating on her shot.

Papa and Angela keeping clear of stray bands.

Papa taking his turn.

No posts this week since I was in Regina all week. You can read about my week on my work travel blog From Here to There.

We went apple picking today at Long Lane Orchards in Campbellville. We picked some macintosh and spartan apples. The trees were in the bottom left centre of the photo.

The apples on average were smaller this year due to the hotter and drier summer.

Angela managing to eat without her two front teeth.

Claudia taste testing.

Gillian holding one of the smaller apples.

They have three goats at the orchard who love apples.

There is a well worn hay bale play area.

The girls were trying to jump from one side to the other.

Say cheese!

These guys are running around the place.

Angela and her new friend.

Claudia and friends.

Gillian trying not to get too close.

A fun day at the orchard.