Halloween has come early! Actually I see that the stores have been stocking not only Halloween items, but Christmas items as well! I bought my Christmas cards a few weeks ago at Sams Club. But we decided to start our Halloween celebration early at Busch Gardens. Every year they have Howl O Scream. An added bonus at the end of the day with Halloween shows and Haunted mazes. The park also does a very nice job decorating. However, Anheuser Busch doesn't own Busch Gardens anymore, so we were interested in how the new group would perform. I must say not as great as the program in the past, but still fun.

They put on the Howl O Scream events every weekend, Fri-Sun. from 6-10pm only in Sept through Oct. Sat and Sun is usually packed. You can spend the whole day at the park and then enjoy the Halloween Haunts in the evening. The shows however run during the day as well. We tried to go last year in Tampa, but they charge extra for their Halloween program. So on Friday the 13th, opening night, we decided to head down to Williamsburg. I wanted to wait and go next weekend, when Scott is off on Friday. But Tom is off to Salt Lake City, and Allison wanted to come too. However, she is going to be busy with Field Hockey games starting next weekend, so this seemed to be the best time for everyone. We pulled SCott out of school on Friday since he had finished all his tests for the week, and drove to Salisbury to pick up Allison. Tom needed to update her security program on her computer, so he was glad we stopped in. She also needed some cold medicine(everyone is getting sick now that they are back at school), and I dropped off a Halloween tshirt and a fall wreath for their door. Plus she needed her water jug for Field Hockey. We were going to drop off her car, but decided to wait until we visit in October on family weekend.

We ended up in Busch Gardens just as the Howl O Scream events got started. They had a few glitches with the opening night, but we still enjoyed all the events. Just not as much as the previous group. We managed to get to two shows and two Haunted Mazes. This is the first year SCott would go through the mazes! Since most of the rides were closed, we decided to head back in the next morning and catch the last show and enjoy the rides and decorations in the day when you can see them better. We only stayed until the early afternoon and then headed back to drop Allison off to school along with a ghost pillow she won in a shooting game and a photo with Scott and the Clydesdales. We stopped into dinner at a local campus brewery before dropping off Allison and heading back to Baltimore.

Tom had to head out to Salt Lake City on Sunday morning, and Scott and I had homework and yardwork to do. At least the weather improved. It was incredibly hot the beginning of the week(almost in the 100s), then we had a tstorm that actually knocked out the power at our airport when lightning hit the tower. They had to shut down the airport for several hours on Thursday(what a mess). Even Allison lost power in her dorm for 30 minutes.  The weather at Busch gardens was hot and muggy too. I was trying to wear my new Halloween

medusa snake hat but I had to take it off because I was sweating so badly! But everyone liked it when I did wear it! It will be great for when the kids come trick or treating. Here are some Busch Garden's Howl O Scream photos. We also enjoy visiting with the Clydesdales. Scott made some new friends. And Allison and Scott compete for a ghost stuffie! The Demon DJ on the huge skull was quite a special effect, along with Allison's favorite, dragons!

We were also busy with Scout stuff this past week. Scott was able to complete his review for another Eagle required badge on WEds, Citizenship in the World. I had to drop off his scout shirt at the laundromat for some new patches to be sewn. I also had to drop off some more paperwork for Allison's Gold Award final review. The board is meeting next Weds, so she needed a few more pieces of info and computer photos. I had to pick up more paperwork from her this weekend, and will drop it off before going to work on Monday. She should hear back on Thursday if her project was worthy enough for a Gold Award. I certainly hope so! I also just received some more photos from the Nature Center that I will have to pass on to the board. Boy I can't wait for the Eagle project! At least we will know Scott will be prepared for all the paperwork!

Speaking of paperwork, we had one more page to sign for our refinancing for our mortgage. The notary had to run over to have us sign it before we were official. This is a strange mortgage company. First they sent us a bag of popcorn for a thank you for filing, and now we got a box of Carolina Oatmeal cookies as a thank you for refinancing. Those Southerners.

I also spent one of my evenings at Back to SChool night for Scott. Tom spent his evening with the neighbors watching Monday night football. Figures. The only issue I (and all the other parents)have with the school is their new website(that doesn't work). We parents and the kids can't access the teacher homework website or class grades. I wish they would work out the bugs before school started. We are already into 3 weeks into school and the end of the term will come soon. I hope it is worth all the fuss.

I also needed to drop off my van at the car dealership during the week. Besides a 50,000 mile oil change and check up, I needed the rubber lining replaced on my rear side windows. This summer when we traveled with the girl scouts, I opened up the windows but the rubber lining was falling off and getting caught in the track of the sliding doors. I was astonished when the service desk called to ask permission to fix them since they were not under warranty. The desk clerk said that rubber pieces like gaskets and windshield wipers were not covered under warranty. I told her this was poor manufacturing and I shouldn't have to pay the $400 to have it replaced when it was their fault for a crappy design and crappy parts/glue. Even the night manager said he had seen several vehicles come in with the same problem.  But alas, I guess it is my problem. Tom sent an email off to complain to Toyota, but I don't think they will change their minds. What a rip off.

A Big Happy Birthday goes out to Mike Bozyk. And Congratulations to Scott for earning his Eagle required badge. Next week he will have a Court of Honor and the boys will earn lots of praise for their accomplishments in the past 4 months. Scott will also be hanging up his Patrol Leader job and trying out for Historian or Librarian(must be Uncle Mike's influence).