I never really cared for Halloween before, to be honest. Quite frankly, it seemed like a lot of work for minimal reward--if I want candy, I can just go to the store and buy it. I am sure this quirk was fostered by my own parents who were nervous about me traipsing about in our own neighborhood at night for candy, sometimes from strangers...I mean really, people, the whole trick or treating business is a perfect risk assessment scenario...but I digress. This is the first year that I really got into Halloween. I didn't dress up at all,
I did that last year to humor Pup 1.0, the pay off was minimal, so I invested my time more accordingly this year.
So because I overestimated my own sewing abilities and because we are a little busy packing and moving right now (let's be honest, my clothes sewing skills, they are somewhat laughter inducing--sorry mom, I should have paid more attention), I was unable to make the costumes, or rather two black suits, which now in hindsight was probably for the best. I mean really, what was I thinking? Because I waited around too long to order the black suits, the pups had no costumes for the Halloween parade at school, which any 4 year old will tell you, is the end of the world.
And someone had his heart on being Jake Blues for the last two months (seriously, we have been watching You Tube videos and listening to albums, it was a big deal, Pup 2.0 was kind of clueless, but he liked the whole "people give me candy" thing--and by people I mean co-workers because the Halloween parade is all about Papa's co-workers and when we trick or treat we go to local friends and my co-workers, 5-6 houses, the kids will catch on to this one day, I am sure).
In order to fix the "no costume situation", I stayed up into the wee hours of the day of the Halloween parade and prepped robot gear. That is how Anderdroid 1.0 and Dashbot 1.0 were born.
You won't see many photos of Pup 2.0 in the bot-box though, he was all about the box before it was shiny and colorful, afterwards, you know, after I spent 2 hours making the costume, he was less enamored.
It was a good Halloween. We hope yours was similarly joyful, if you are into that sort of thing...it's totally okay if you aren't though.
Flickr has more Halloween shots, should you be interested in viewing them.
I am not sure if you are aware of this or not, but the Wandering Seals are into the whole hiking thing...still.
We have found that fall is a good time to go hiking in New England. We recently hiked Lantern Hill in Ledyard, Connecticut. It's fun and everything, but pretending to be a pack mule does make for a difficult ascent. 
I figured that catching up on things we did last month, like Coast Guard Aviation Day would be much more exciting than me talking about moving boxes from one place to another (we are moving, still).
CG Aviation Day involved bringing in an example of each type of Coast Guard aircraft for the 3rd and 4th class (freshman and sophmores) cadets to take a look at. One of the perks to being a member of the Coast Guard is that you can widgeon your family into things like this as well. 
We did go to Rhinebeck, New York for a wool and sheep festival two weekends ago. And we had a great time.
The weekend was less about sheep and more about having fun and seeing old (and new friends). 
The pups found rides.
And Papa entertained the kids at a knitter's meet-up.
And yes, we saw sheep.
Last weekend we engaged in one of our favorite family fall traditions: apple picking. This year, as in years past, we wandered over the Holmberg Orchard in Gales Ferry, CT. There was a tractor ride involved, so obviously it was worth the drive to get there.
We measured ourselves to see how tall we've gotten.
As exciting as the apples are, prepare yourselves, next week: sheep. Get excited!
Back in AUGUST (I know!) we went to Washington DC. Papa Seal had a conference, so the rest of us tagged along. I put the pictures in flickr (there are tons of pictures there for the viewing, really--and some of them are hilarious), but never posted about it. We had a good time.
We were able to meet up with my friend Pin.
After we got back from DC we kept ourselves busy. I finished a book chapter for a book being published next spring. Get excited.
Papa tore apart our downstairs bathroom to renovate it.
Seal Pup 2.0 had surgery on his ears.
And we decided to buy a new house while trying to also sell the one we are currently living in. So now we are packing. Good times!
I am sure we did other things that are probably worth mentioning, but I can't think of them now. I will try to be better about updating, so as not to make you think the blog is defunct, because it isn't. I just haven't prioritized updating, which is usually my biggest blogger pet peave (unless, or course, I am the one not blogging). But now we're back.
At the end of June, we made our annual trek to the west coast to hang out with family (and a friend or two). Who can complain about a week at the beach, really?
Especially when you got to the San Diego Zoo.
And Benihana (it's like a tradition!).
And a playground or two.
Oh, and Legoland.
Well, actually, you can complain Legoland if you decide to swing on a chain suspended from a barricade and almost knock yourself senseless on a cement curb. Yes, then you'd have something to complain about, I guess. But then, your parents will probably buy you tons of Lego-related plastic-y bits after you start to normally again, and that might just make you feel better.
The week, for us, is mostly about getting the kids together with their cousins and letting them hang out.
