October was indeed nuts. The weather was fantastic, but I had tons of work. For example, I gave 5 presentations over 7 days. Who came up with this schedule? I did. I also led a discussion at a WAC conference at MIT. Still, I found time to swim, rejuvenate my bookclub, and cook. I truly consider myself lucky to be married to a Russian because the cuisine is so varied. Perhaps my biggest accomplishment, however, was making Nikita's Kit Fisto costume for Halloween (Ivan's costume was mercifully found on craigslist). Not did it involve sewing (with help from this site), but dyeing (robe) and painting (mask) as well. I've become a huge fan of arts & crafts stores, and am grateful there's a very good one on the way to work.
The boys were busy as well. Nikita spent Columbus Day weekend (with Igor) in Chicago for the Susan Polgar World Open. He didn't do terribly well (15 out of 23), but the chess tournament was a good experience for him. With all his other extracurricular activities (chess 4x /week, Japanese, Russian, piano) we decided to drop violin for now. Finally, he was pleased with his Halloween costume, and even helped me paint the mask. I was struck by how much Kit Fisto resembled Medusa (it's the pipe-cleaner "hair").
Ivan maintained the Star Wars theme for Halloween by being Darth Vader, but the holiday capped an event-filled month. He loves preschool, and keeps himself busy copying letters and making rhymes ("Ball. Small. That rhymes!"). At home, I continued his film education with "Billy Elliot" (whose name he unfortunately changed to Billy Idiot - another rhyme), which led to "Top Hat". We also had another trip to the dentist because he had a toothache. It turned out that one of his fillings was chipped.Not all trips, however, were terrible. While Nikita and Igor were in Chicago, I took Ivan and Galina to not one, but two fairs. The first one was the Topsfield Fair. We got to see lots of produce and animals (it is a state fair, after all), and eat fried Oreos (my first!). Ivan especially enjoyed the merry-go-round (below), big ferris wheel, and other rides in the midway. The second fair was a Cranberry Harvest Celebration in Wareham. Much smaller, but we got to see the bogs up close and had some wonderful ice-cream, which was much needed in the 80+ degree weather. Of course, swords were obtained (bought or won) at both fairs.
The following weekend, we had a wonderful outing at Red Apple Farm. The farm was very far for us (Phillipston), but there were so many varieties of apples (of which we only picked 7) and not many people despite the good weather. Nikita's lack of top front teeth allowed him to make faces in the apples (below). The boys also picked their pumpkins in the patch, marvelled at the farm animals (especially a humped-backed cow), and enjoyed cider donuts and maple syrup cotton candy.
Towards the end of the month, everyone got sick (I held out until the 31st), and there was a freak snowstorm right before Halloween. Thankfully, we didn't lose power (unlike others in the area), but about 1/3 of our backyard was covered with huge tree branches. The snow added to the Halloween decor, but I had to make sure the sidewalks were clear of slush as well as the usual doggie poop.All in all, a busy but fulfilling month.
