October 2025

Here are all the photos/videos from October, of which there are plenty because it's a great month to be outside enjoying autumn.

In other news this month, Becky had a birthday and we celebrated by getting takeout and going to a nearby park by the river to eat while Alex played, until we got cold and came home to have pie and presents. One of those presents was tickets to Innisfree Gardens over near Millbrook, NY. It is one of several artfully landscaped gardens in the area, but one we hadn't been to yet. We went the following weekend and really enjoyed walking the trails,  viewing the scenery, and looking for frogs. There are lots of photos of that. We also had fun outings to Jones Farm in Cornwall to pick out a pumpkin and have cider donuts, and walk around the nearby nature preserve a bit. We also took a trip out to Beacon to explore a little waterfall hike there, and then go into town where we get fancy donuts and visit the library. This time we also tried an Asian restaurant that had some unique Japanese dishes. And this month we found two new things in our town that Alex likes. One is the Riverside Park, where we went on Becky's birthday. It's just a small area with picnic benches by the river and a little trail, hidden away in a neighborhood. But there are lots of rocks in a shallow and wide area of the river that Alex loves walking on. And the other thing is Mrs. Claire's Cozy Cupboard, which used to be a little library of used kids books we had visited before, but now they have changed it into more of a kids play area. They do music lessons too. The woman who runs it is really great, and even though its more for younger kids, it's right at Alex's interest level.

Becky:  Alex and I got to visit Grandma Burden (my mom) in Sierra Vista, Arizona this month.  I also got to see my brother, sister-in-law and niece  in Tucson when I had them babysit Alex so I could get a haircut.  They have a great house in the dessert with cool landscaping.  I always enjoy chilling with them.   Grandma, Alex and I enjoyed the nice weather and did all of our favorite outings- trips to the playground, skate park, aquatic center, mall with the coin rides, arcade, scooter walks with the dog, and Tombstone.  Alex likes to ride the stagecoach in Tombstone and sometimes even likes looking through the shops.  Mom and I just spent the week talkng and watching Alex do cute stuff.  We got him to go down a short water slide with some effort, which was great.  My mom is always making us great food and otherwise keeping us entertained.  On Halloween we pulled Alex along on his scooter (He was Superman) so he could trick or treat through my mom's neighborhood.  It was a pretty lively neighborhood.  Then I got my mom to chill out with me and watch Jurassic Park Rebirth.  It was a fantastic week off for all of us.

Rob: While Becky and Alex were away visiting family in Arizona, I stayed pretty busy doing some projects around the house when I wasn't at work. Nothing too interesting, just some cleaning, reorganization, and getting a room ready for fostering. On Halloween, there happened to be a band I like called Fruit Bats playing at a venue in Woodstock. So since I rarely get to do that kind of stuff anymore, I drove up there to check it out. It was just a solo acoustic set played to a small audience in this barn studio once owned by Levon Helms (drummer/vocalist of The Band). Anyway, it was a really great venue and show. Another thing I did while I was on my own was a hike from Lake Minnewaska to Lake Awosting at the state park. I've wanted to do that hike for a while, but it's 3 miles each way, so a bit too long to take Alex. Really enjoyable hike though, especially with the Fall colors all around.

In other news, we now have new neighbors living on the other side of our building, where our landlords used to live. It's a couple about our age, and their 15-year-old daughter who has some special needs, and a mother-in-law. The husband works from home as a musician/producer. They seem pretty great and we have some things in common, so we look forward to getting to know them better.