it's good that kuya bernard, uncle alex, and mom didn't trek out to the pumpkin festival with us -- i don't think mom can handle these kind of activities ...lots of walking...and this drive was far.
i have a vague memory of going to the pumpkin festival when i was a kid ..of being excited about going and seeing a pumpkin painted as spiderman...mom says it was in 1976.. but that would mean i was ~2 yrs old. i can't imagine having memories from that long time ago.
this would have been one of those long road trips with the Castillo family. oh my gosh... i pay homage to our parents -- this trip is way farther than i thought. imagine..our parents ...just adventuring the backroads looking for a small town that holds an annual pumpkin festival. without GPS... they probably only had an atlas or one map... and a really good sense of direction. Salud to my Ninong Virgilio and my dad -- i wish your grandkids are as gutsy as you.
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| a little breakfast at Old McDonald's before heading to the pumpkin festival |
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| i didn't check what this is suppose to be.. i figured that we are here- i better snap some pics of some pumpkins. the theme this year was 'Pumpkins across America'. |
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| a lot of pumpkins... a lot of categories..which means these are not the only winners |
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| posting pics on his phone |
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| did you figure this one out? i got the answer after i overheard it. Pacman |
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| my mahal is grumbling while i took this pic ...there was a pumpkin more elaborately costumed as a robot...he thought the robot pumpkin should have received 1st place. |
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| most of the pumpkins we saw were done by kid age groups.. pretty well done by the kids. |
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| there's the robot my mahal thought should have won 1st place |
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| AJ pointed out this pumpkin soccer ball |
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| i yelled out, 'hey mahal! look! it's you!' |
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| jasmine taking a picture of us. ok...take it again. |
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| good job! thanks for taking a picture of us! |
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| AJ taking our picture |
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| that's Dora the Explorer on the left |
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| that's a halloween Dora in the middle |
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| from the cartoon Phineas and Ferb |
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| every parent of a pre-schooler should know this book |
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| see there are only 8 pumpkin planets, too! |
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| i love these family fun events. Americana at its best! the whole town gets ready for this pumpkin festival - a lot of planning and a lot of volunteering. local organizations sell food for their charities. this is totally mom and pop... i love it! it's the whole town sponsoring themselves. no big name/big brand sponsors... unless you count the Lions Club International selling raffle tickets or the local boy scouts chapter selling funnel cakes. here my mahal is buying chili for him and a loaded baked potato for me. |
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| no family fun event is complete without jasmine needing to go the bathroom at least 2 times. |
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| they show all the pumpkins in front of the courthouse [in background] ...in this pic - they've just blocked off the main street in preparation of the parade. we left town before the parade started. thanks pumpkin festival! we had a great time! |
