Los Flemings

Sam and I were at the State Fair last Saturday as part of the single-day record setting crowd (over 145,000 fair goers!) Fortunately we got there early enough to get on some rides before the lines got too long.



Sam hams it up in front of the Spider (scary Halloween face)









Candy apple time

Not far from Merchants Millpond on the trip home we spotted Judy's Pumpkin Patch and decided to make a purchase. Here's the one Sam selected (with Judy consulting).
















Sam considers the Mexican Hat pumpkins.

We made the trip east (and north) to Merchants Millpond State Park for a perfect fall camping weekend. We got the invitation from some friends at the Fellowship and the timing was perfect. The weather was crisp in the evening and early morning and great for building a campfire then it warmed back up in the afternoons.

(left: Mame & Sam at the put-in)






The millpond was built nearly 200 years ago and now has its own little ecosystem of cypress and tupelo trees. The pond is low from the recent drought but we were still able to reach the canoe-in group camping site. It was a bit of an odd sensation canoeing across what looked so
much like N. Florida.


(right: Jim & Jane on the pond)




We canoed into the site late Friday afternoon. Saturday we explored some more of the pond and also walked a two-mile loop with our friends Jim & Jane. Jane is a retired Montessori teacher and she enjoyed introducing Sam to some of the native plants. He turned the hike into a giant scavenger hunt. He also told us that, "being a 5 year old is easier than being a 4 year old because I know a lot more."

Sam testing out his astronaut gear in advance of Halloween. (Thanks to Dandy.)




















And testing vampire teeth with his buddy Xander.

Today was Sam's five year old check-up day with the doc and it required one pricking to draw blood and four immunization shots. He was well prepared and the nurse did an excellent job. We held hands during the shots and his grip got a little tight but he just tensed a little and never cried out. When she was done he turned to me and said, "that wasn't so bad". Guess who got a little teary out of pride?