Do you remember the first time you saw a gourd?

Did you think it was a "pumpkin reject"?

I did.

My mom always loved decorating for autumn and Halloween. The first time she brought home these little gnarly pumpkin-cousins, I thought maybe there was a pumpkin shortage.

Mom assured me these were the first step in her decorating plans - and that she'd take me with her to pick out our pumpkin-for-carving.

We never got this fancy with our carving, but a talented fellow posted this on our Facebook page last fall; it's worthy of praise and a re-post, don't you think?

Another wonderful Halloween tradition is dressing up in costume.

And yes, that will be part of Happy Halloween Weekends.

In keeping with our G-rated park atmosphere, we do have a few rules for costume-wearers:

1. Family-friendly only, please - no blood, guts, gore, or revealing costumes

2. No weapons (real or fake)

3. No masks

When riding rides, you will need to remove any capes, hats, wigs, handheld props/accessories and anything else that might change the shape of your body or height.

So are you planning to visit is in costume next month? What will you be?