Echo Lake and the pumpkin patch

Since Joker had yesterday off in honor of that first great American who stole the lands of our indigenous peoples, we decided to keep the Bug out of school and enjoy a family fall day together. 

First stop was Echo Lake, a very picturesque lake located a stunning 18-mile drive west of Evergreen, at about 10,600 feet elevation.  They'd gotten almost a foot of snow two days prior, and the paths were navigable but clearly covered in snow.  The lake wasn't frozen, but it won't be long up there!  It was beautiful, and we enjoyed a short hike part of the way around the lake.

After we got back home, we hit the pumpkin patch to select our seasonal treasures.  We carved and/or decorated them, and you can see the masterpieces here.  From the left, the Bug-Pumpkin (you'll see she wanted the mouth carved and everything else drawn in marker), the Daddy-Pumpkin (he always goes in for scary), the Bunny-Pumpkin (too small to carve, just right for markers) and the Mommy-Pumpkin (which is pretty much as dorky as mine usually are).