(singing) “H, A, double L, O, dubba U, double E, N, spells Halloween!” That’s the song we sang in my elementary school choir class. I got really good at spelling Halloween, but I still couldn’t sing to save my life. Now it’s my turn to pass both of those things on to Chandler. And if you’re thinking “his wife will teach Chandler to sing good”…yeah…not so much. If Chandler ever learns to sing or do anything in the rhythmic arts, it won’t be because of us.

It’s October and that of course means it’s time to get a pumpkin. The Smith family, with Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt tagging along, headed out to the closest Pumpkin Patch we could find. Enter: Lee Farms in Tualatin.

This experience was a great opportunity for me to get some quality Baby Bjorn action in. We got to the patch (that’s how us cool kids refer to Pumpkin Patches) and I suited up. Putting on the Baby Bjorn feels cool because it feels like I am putting on a shoulder gun holster. I wonder if they make Baby Bjorn’s that also have gun holsters? Note to self: google “baby bjorn gun holster.”

It was a beautiful sunny day which we enjoyed, but Chandler did not enjoy. He’s a true Portland baby and really prefers cloudy days. Also, he loves to protest things (aka he cries a lot). Getting pumpkins to display on our front porch was of course one of our objectives but to be honest this trip was really nothing more than a great photo op. Grandpa Schmidt was of course our photographer. Chandler was a bit of a prima donna. He kept complaining that the sun was in his eyes or that the gourds we sat him on were poking his butt. What a baby.

After a little while we decided Chandler had had enough “fun” in the sun. We quickly picked our pumpkins and made our way to the register. On our way out I scored some authentic kettle korn (not that microwavable crap). It was a lot of hard work but I managed to make that bag of kettle korn last 2 days. I could have finished it in an hour if I wanted to. Anyway, we now have our pumpkins. The next thing to do is carve them. I wonder if Chandler is naturally skilled with the knife?

(click through all the pictures to see the captions)