kiku

Some friends invited us along to visit the NY Botanical Garden's incredible Kiku exhibit. First we walked through a gallery that explained how the artists achieve each form of the chrysanthemums, then on to see the flowers themselves. We walked in awe of the time and energy required to bring each style to fruition.

The artist here uses rocks and mums to recreate the mountains of Japan in the fall.

The pond was a much bigger attraction for the younger kids, but Dante and Elias managed to absorb some of the exhibit as well.

This bamboo structure outside the conservatory was a big hit, tho less so once we made it clear that the kids could not, in fact, run through it and whirl around the posts. Buzzkill.

Halloweenie

As they've done the past few years, Tucker, Grace and now Ben joined us for our trek through the neighborhood for toxic loot.



We look forward to this guy's house each year. The first year we went, he was sitting in a grim reaper costume on a chair with the bowl of candy on his lap. But he hadn't moved the entire time we meandered up the walkway, so the kids assumed it was stuffed. When they reached for the candy he moved and said something, which scared them out of their wits. This year he came out talking about how he'd already taken his head off to wash, not expecting visitors so late. The kids weren't quite sure what to make of it for the first few minutes he was on the porch, and just eyed him warily.