Halloween 2017

San Francisco

Jess goes to San Francisco quite often for work but I've never been. Thanks to John and Gennie's and my Mom and Sandy's willingness to help with the kids, I was able to join him for a couple of days in October and explore this interesting city.

Our hotel was in a great location: Union Square, near all kinds of shopping and restaurants and within walking distance of the pier.

On our first full day there, we rented bikes and biked along the waterfront, across the Golden Gate Bridge, down to the charming little town of Sausolito where we caught a ferry across the bay and past Alcatraz, back to where we started.

Jess surprised me by insisting that we eat the picnic we had packed on a bench overlooking the bay and the bridge and then pulling out two sets of watercolours, paintbrushes and paper. So, we spent a couple hours on that bench, eating and painting. It was dreamy.

Rainbow Valley Aerial Park

A new attraction was built in Edmonton this summer at the bottom of the local ski hill, only ten minutes away from our house: an aerial park. So in September, we went and checked it out. It was really fun!

Another Pride and Prejudice Ball

At the end of September, Jess and I went to our third Pride and Prejudice Ball, hosted by Regency Encounters. We're starting to become Jane Austen pros now! I decided to sew a new dress this time and I also made a new waistcoat for Jess. We had a great time - Jane Austen cosplayers are really nice people!

Each couple was announced as they entered the ballroom - we chose to be announced as Lady Buttercup and Lord Westley of Florian.

Someone making proper use of the fainting couch:

On the same night as the ball, there was a wedding reception in the other ballroom and at one point, the bride wandered over to check out the ball: