Another great thing about having a child is that you get to rediscover all of the holidays you loved as a kid. This October has been one giant Halloween festival for Benjamin that's been packed with lots of cute moments. It seems like every other day this month Benjamin's had some playgroup costume party to attend (the boy does seem to get out a lot). Thanks to some hand-me-downs, he's gone as a lion (with a cute little tail) and a purple dragon. He doesn't seem to know what to think of the whole costume thing, but he's been a good sport about it all.

Livermore is a good place to be during October. In addition to having a good Fall climate, there are a few farms in the area that have big pumpkin patches and corn mazes. Some folks drive all the way from San Francisco to see the patches. While many settle for the one just off the interstate, the best patch to go to is the one on Mines road. They have a decent-sized corn maze and a large selection of pumpkins (someone from work also told me that the owners are ex-Sandians). We went this year, picked a pumpkin, and ran the corn maze. It was pretty impressive this year- the stalks were bushy enough this year that there were times where you couldn't see the hills that surround the farm. Pretty cool.

Unfortunately, Benjamin and I both came down with a really bad case of the flu just before Halloween, so we didn't get out to see the downtown festival or pretend to do any tick or treating. Perhaps the projectile vomiting Benjamin did over my shoulder was just part of an elaborate Exorcist costume that we was working on, though. Next year..