Second-grade girls soccer ROCKS! Have I ever mentioned the names of the girls on Joey's soccer team? There are a bunch that are remarkably similar: Kayla, Mikayla, Makaylie, Hailey, Bailey (first and last name), Taelor and Amy. Just shout out something that sounds like an A and you're bound to get at least half the team. Of course, there are a few other names--Chancey, Ashlee, Jessica, Olivia (called Oly for short), and of course Joey.

We had the best game today and Joey was wonderful. Oh she still flinched a little when the ball looked like it might rise a millimeter off the grass, but she went for it other times. In the first half, she had a bit of a drive down the field--kicked the ball far, chased after it and kicked it again--probably covered half the field. And in the second half, she did some good defense forcing the opponent to go through her or out of bounds and then later she STOLE THE BALL and drove it a quarter of the way down field. My JOEY stole the freaking ball! I was so proud of her I nearly cried! The coach was all excited and told her what a great job she was doing. She was so proud of herself. She said "Soccer is the best!" and really enjoyed the game today. It was just wonderful all the way around. My Joey stole the ball!

After the terrific game, we decided we'd take advantage of the great weather today and go to the Pumpkin patch out on Sauvie Island. We've been going there for over 10 years now and even though it takes us about 45 minutes to get there, we always have to go to *that* pumpkin patch. It's just tradition. I'm big on family traditions.

So we head on out there and as we drive, the overcast clouds start breaking up and patches of blue sky start peeking out. It's a beautiful drive and we get there by 11:45. Before we head out to the field, we decide to have some of the tasty food they have for the taking. Yummy fresh corn on the cob with butter and salt--so delicious. Ed also had a bratwurst with onions and mustard. Joey has developed a taste for onions these days so she decided she needed to have taste of Ed's dog.

We rode the haybale tractor ride out to the field and scouted out our respective pumpkins. Ed got a nice tall one, Joey got a very round small one and I got a squatty deep orange one that is sweet and good for making pies. I don't plan to carve it--just use it for decoration and then make it into a few pies and maybe some ravioli later in the month.

After we chose our pumpkins, we took the hayride back to the farm and I waited with the goods while Ed and Joey went through corn maze. I don't like mazes--they make me feel very claustrophobic and after my recent electricity outage at the mall, I didn't want to tempt fate by going into the corn maze so I stayed behind and did some people watching. It was very interesting. I haven't done any pure people watching for a long time.

When we left the pumpkin patch, I convinced Ed to take the scenic route around the island. It was beautiful. Sauvie Island lies at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers and it has a wild bird refuge on it and lots of farms. Pastoral. Bucolic. Stunning.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Halloween store geting Joey's Sailor Moon costume and at the Learning Palace getting math flashcards. By the time we got home, I had a nasty sinus headache, Ed had a lack of sleep headache and Joey just wanted to rest so we all rested and it was lovely, except for the little girl who rang our doorbell, the Red Cross who called for Ed's blood and my sister who called asking questions about autopsies, all of which I took care of so that Ed could rest. Good thing I fall back to sleep easily.

We went to Village Inn for dinner--I love having breakfast for dinner. Then we went to Borders and listened to an African drum band while we browsed the store. I bought the next book group book (Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell--it's a SciFi book and I'm not sure I'm all that interested in it but I'll give it a whirl) and a photography book. I leafed through several photography books while we were there but only got the one basic photography book. Seeme like a prudent idea to start with the basics after all.

So that's my rockin' day. Hope yours was equally as scintillating.

--L