We are getting closer to Halloween! Allison and I decided to attend the Night of the Living Dead at the National Zoo this year. I have always wanted to go-a Halloween party for adults, 21 and over, at the zoo in DC. I just could not schedule it since they always seemed to have it on a weekday, starting around 6pm and it is just too hard to get there at that time with all the DC traffic. But this year they scheduled it on a Friday night at 730pm. Perfect! Tom was not interested in going, but again, he was out of town during the week. Back to Scotland this go round for him! Sadly he brought a bad cold home with him too.
Allison and I had already planned out our costumes when we attended the Baltimore Comicon. We were going as Pikachu and a Pokemon Trainer. I picked up Pikachu ears and a tail for myself at Comicon. Allison had a Pikachu hat and a few Pokemon keepsakes to add to her costume, but we picked up a jacket vest at the Goodwill to top it off. We were very excited to attend, however, the weather was not so cooperative. 100% rain all night, starting when we arrived. So before heading out the door, I picked up some clear, 97 cent ponchos and some small umbrellas. It was also supposed to be very cold. I bought a big, yellow sweater and we put on the layers. Turns out it was not as cold, but definitely rainy. Allison and I arrived just before the event opened. We got a great parking spot right in the zoo, and we each received two tickets for drinks with our admission. The lines were low, so we nabbed a couple glasses of wine while we started through the displays and animal encounters. They opened up their buildings for the night, mostly small mammal and reptile house. The gorillas were smart and went to bed, even with the lights on! The keepers were just putting out some treats for the small mammals. Very entertaining watching them tear open decorated paper bags for treats, and munch on jack o lanterns. Especially an adorable little desert fox who kept himself very busy digging into his cardboard boxes trying to find the meal worms. And the lemurs would not leave the zookeeper alone as she placed small bags around the enclosure. Too bad the weather was so wet. Most of the entertainers were hiding under small tents including a fire eater, jugglers, violinist and several DJs and an incredible jazz band. But it was not so fun standing in the rain watching or listening to them perform. A few brave souls were out dancing, but the VIP tent had the most action since their entire party space was under tents. Maybe next year. Although Allison said she preferred our venue, and I think it was not as crowded because of the rain. They also had food trucks, but we ate dinner before attending. Plus there really was not a dry spot to sit down and eat. Besides checking out the animals/reptiles, it was fun seeing all the creative costumes and the zoo decorations. Even though it poured all evening, we had a great time and the event wrapped up at 10pm. Time for the critters to go to bed!
Earlier that morning I had enjoyed an outing with my mom to Bob Evans with her Sr group. We enjoyed lunch and a craft project together with members of her weekly Sr plus group. I also plan on attending the Sr Thanksgiving luncheon with her in November. It is nice to have the extra time and flexibility in my schedule to visit with mom.
And to continue to participate in GS events. On Tuesday night I attended the monthly staff planning meeting for the Spring GS Jamboree. Allison missed it since she was off to frisbee that night. The group chose our activities for Survival Weekend, and rather than put on an Escape Room, we decided to incorporate solving a puzzle at the end of the day with a clue from each station. And the solution will be the 7 Leave No Trace Principles. This way we will be able to get all our events in that we want to schedule, plus add a bit of problem solving and education into the mix. Sounds good. Allison of course will be doing archery! And on Sunday I was back at GS choir practice. We have quite a few Holiday events already on our calendar, including an afternoon at my mom's new facility.
And it is hockey season again! Tom was home from his trip and itching to watch hockey. Tom, Allison and our friend John headed up to Hershey PA for a Hershey Bears game on Saturday night. They had a great time and the Bears won in an overtime shootout! I opted to stay home after getting my flu shot and begin to work on my online orientation and training programs for my new on call job. Yeah! I finally was called into the Lorien facility for my orientation during the week
Sunday evening, after returning home from choir practice, Tom and I met up with our friends to check out the new Guinness bar and restaurant near the Northrop airport office. Allison has actually already visited the bar as an intern afterwork get together. She went in the summer months when it was warm and they could all sit outside on the huge patio. When we arrived it was dark and chilly and no one was outside. The place is huge. The main building has 3 floors with a brewery on the 1st floor, a bar on the second and restaurant on the 3rd. Tom and I arrived before our friends, so we grabbed a beer at the bar and checked on the expensive merchandise in the store. We then headed to dinner at the restaurant with our friends. Allison had warned us that the food was really expensive, but we were hungry, so we opted for the cheapest item on the menu-burgers and fries. Which turned out to be very good, but we don't think we will be returning too often. Just a cool experience since it is the only brewery outside of Ireland that makes the Guinness beer. And we really enjoyed our evening out with our friends!
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