At least, when I went to upload October's pictures, I got a pleasant surprise. The uploading software on Blogger has been REEEEALLY slow-- literally, an hour to upload the amount of pictures I usually put on a post. This time, despite having 62 pictures to upload, I was done in less than ten minutes. I might have been excited. I may have mentioned this excitement to Evan a few times. Evan may have slipped in ear plugs at one point.
Evan worked out of town on a night job in the beginning of October, so we were rather happy when he came home. To celebrate, we took a short vacation to Rochester for Columbus Day weekend.
On Saturday, we went to Letchworth State Park, where the "Pikcilingis girls" had a booth at the craft fair. Lots of beautiful quilts there, not that I got any pictures of that! Here's a picture of the dam, though. It was my first time visiting Letchworth.
A cute family. And I persevered with taking a picture, despite the fact my knees were weak, thinking of Evan dropping a kid over that fence.
Beside the fence. My smile was a little smaller than normal as I tried to will the kids to not try to climb the fence. I'm not sure why I was such a wuss about it.
Posing on the big chair!
Cheyenne had a Big Sister Stranglehold on the kids.
Cheyenne had to pose for her own picture. It's wearying, sometimes, being the sister. Sometimes you just want to be the girl.
Rilla still likes to have her picture taken.Sunday, we had a lovely day, despite the fact Cheyenne got violently carsick as we pulled into the driveway for meeting. Thanks to the Leavys, we got her and the van cleaned up and had a nice little meeting. After meeting, we went to a park on the lake, and walked out on a pier. After that nice dose of fresh air, Cheyenne perked up and we went out to eat. Then, a lazy afternoon in the hotel, with a few forays into the pool.
Monday, we hit up the children's museum in Rochester. The kids were thrilled to visit Berenstain Bear Land.
Elliott, working on a quilt pattern.
Cheyenne in Papa Bear's workshop. She obviously needs to spend more time in her father's workshop, if she thinks that's an appropriate way to raise the saw.
Rilla working on quilt patterns, too.
They had some old doll quilts on display. I loved this one-- Mom used to have a velvet crazy quilt.
The hostess about to seat Evan in the diner.
This hostess had it to-GETHER like a burlap bag full of bobcats.
Taking orders.
Very short short-order chefs.
As you can see in this picture of Evan, the whole place was scaled to kids, not adults! It did have lots of places for adults to sit, though, while the kids played.
This hostess wasn't totally clear on the concept of money, but she was sufferin' cute.
Brushing teeth at the dentist.
Marilla in the Bear Country Girl's Club.
Putting some vegetables up the conveyor belt at Farmer Ben's farm.
Waiting for the vegetables at the other end. I wish I knew where to buy the play food they had there. Despite the obvious abuse it suffers every day, it was very realistic and looked indestructible.
Dressing the scarecrow.
Our good little buddy, napping in the midst of chaos.
Elliott and Marilla, in another part of the museum, in a kitchen fitted out like one in the early part of the 1900s.
Marilla, with her pot.
For some reason, she looks like she's crying in this picture. Maybe she was. If I had to cook in a kitchen from that era, I'd cry, too.
One of their favorite sections-- a Wegman's grocery store.
Cheyenne was the cashier-- a position of Great Responsibility. She was entranced with this, and now wants to work in a grocery store when she grows up. It was pretty neat, the scanner worked, and it printed a receipt with the actual items the kids scanned through.
Elliott and Marilla lining up their purchases.
Marilla, and the food that comprises 90% of the weight she's put on in the last two years.
An earnest little shopper.
CUTE little carts!
Speaking of cute, I love babies' excited faces!
Taking a ride on the railway.
Waving to Daddy!
The train ride was extra money, but Daddy couldn't resist those sparkly eyes. She sure did enjoy it!
Climbing down Jack's Beanstalk.
One of the dress-up dresses.
Marilla reading in Cinderella's coach.
Yes, READING! Did I mention the most completely awesome part of this museum? It's also a library-- and a library with a completely covetousness-inducing collection. It had Berenstain Bear books in Berenstain Bear land, of course, but it had tons of other little collections scattered throughout. Like in the mystery house, there were Cam Jensen, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boy and Trixie Belden books. And beside the wand manufacturing station, there were Harry Potter, Charlie Bone, and Redwall books. I could go on about the books for QUITE some time! Suffice it to say, if only I had had slightly fewer morals, I would have stuffed about 30 books under the blankets in the bottom of the stroller and sailed out. It is a circulating library, but you have to have a library card in that county. We may be moving to Rochester soon...
Surprisingly, Cheyenne enjoyed the part where you could dress up in sparkly clothes and put on plays.
Had to go back to Bear Country again before we left. Marilla was totally enthralled with this activity, which entailed stacking the bottom part on first, then putting the middle panels on that. They had to be supported by the bottom ones. She never got that part, so Mommy and Daddy patiently held the top ones in place until she put in the base pieces.We had an excellent time that day, so much so that we bought a year's membership. We can't wait to take the cousins sometime soon!
Elliott wasn't feeling good one day. I love how much he takes after his daddy-- laying there with his laptop! 
Cutting out snowflakes is the latest craze here, among the crafty people in the family (i.e. everyone but Mommy.)
I love lots about this picture. Marilla's cute face, of course, but also by the fact that it looks like Evan is in his Sunday pants, AND is cooking! I love Sundays that that happens.
Cute little boy in his jammies.
The Cotten kids came down for one of Gilbert's appointments. The five "big" kids were eating supper on the living room coffee table.
Lincoln "Two Fingers" White in his swing.
Gilbert in the high chair, patiently smiling for Aunt Clover, even though he'd rather be eating.
Much hilarity.
Something is really funny.
I ADORE this picture! Cousins are the greatest invention since siblings.
Lily's not sure there should be this much laughter when there's supper on the table.
Rilla with her long-suffering baby.
Cheyenne's Harvest Festival, her school's answer to a Halloween parade.
The kids make costumes in class that relate to a book they read together. Cheyenne's class read a book about spiders. She was a very sparkly, glamorous spider.
Little pumpkin.
Another picture from Halloween night. I love Elliott's expression.
Cheyenne loves her littlest brother. The other brother, too (I think), but this one gets more hugs.Now that I know I can load pictures fairly quickly, I may actually put some more pictures up soon!
