Backyard Pumpkin Carving Party

It is tradition on Taft Campus for the assistant coordinators to host a pumpkin carving party every year for the instructors. I gladly followed along with the tradition and invited all the staff over for an evening in mid October before Halloween.

Me with Dominica, Claire, and Hannah carving away.

Natalie and Autumn

We collected a bowl of the pumpkin seeds to roast.

Several of the girls brought over their bathing suits to try out the Hillbilly hot tub.

We had mulled apple cider simmering over the fire, hot chocolate, sliced apples and fresh roasted pumpkin seeds....yum!

Natalie actually got her pumpkin to fit on her head!


We had a fun time carving pumpkings and enjoying the new backyard with several of our "neighbors" from campus.

Autumn on Parade 5K

The first weekend in October Oregon, IL has a big festival called Autumn on Parade. It involves lots of arts and crafts, good food, and a big parade. It was lots of small town fun. I decided to run in the 5K on Sunday morning with several of my co-workers at Lorado Taft.

Me, Hannah, Erin, and Natalie after the race, back in the Taft Campus parking lot. They are all new Outdoor Educators at Taft this year. It was fun to run again!