The day before our scheduled Halloween bash, a call came from the preschool. "You need to come pick up your daughter, she has what appears to be a pretty severe case of lice. We can see the bugs from here."

LICE! &$@#! Being reasonable, educated and calm adults, we panicked. First, send out the disclosure email to all 25 people who were about to descend upon our house the next day to smash a pumpkin-shaped pinata. Second, wash and comb the kids. Third, wash in hot water everything we own that has had a kid's head on it (which is just about everything). Fourth, vacuum every couch, chair, mattress and rug. Fifth, allow the knee-jerk shame to engulf the family.

Even though the cause of lice is no disease, even though lice are only caught from other children, even though lice cause nothing but itching, even though lice are no sign of the dirtiness you feel -- lice have brought us down in the dumps. It's not just the stigma, it's the actual work. Five days later, we are still baking the kid's bedding in the dryer every day, vacuuming everything else and nit picking.

You will never actually know the true meaning of nit picking until you find yourself going through the thick mop of your kid's hair strand by strand. Nits are just slightly larger than the period at the end of this sentence. No kidding. Your child, if preschool and not subject to long sessions of combing and picking, will need to be placated with candy or Yo Gabba Gabba or both. It takes hours, literally, every day. Our younger daughter, the one with thinner hair and not yet worried about the mirror, got a new short hair cut.

The party? It was a great success. Only two families declined to show for fear of nits, and we do not begrudge them that decision one bit. Knowing that we will be nit picking for the next month, I'm not sure if we would have shown up either.

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I took my two-year-old to a sing-a-long this morning. There was live music, dancing, joking -- and a 40% off sale on bedding. We were at Pottery Barn Kids at Washington Square Mall, enjoying their in store concert series, and if you’ve never been, I highly recommend it.

Every few weeks, PBKids features live entertainment in the mornings, and it’s a blast for the toddler set. Mall savvy mommies line their designer strollers outside and take their Starbuck’s and their kiddos in to listen to live music. Plan on getting there early, because that store fills up fast; at least 10 minutes early will probably ensure you a spot up front. If your little ones have a hard time sitting through an entire performance, it’s alright, because there are lots of other little kids and toy displays to play with. And you can almost shop at the same time, so win-win.

Today we got to see Eric Herman, and I think I might have to go back and order one of his CDs, because he was a lot of fun. We’re definitely keeping our eyes open for the next one.

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Going out for ice cream is such a fun activity on a summer afternoon. Now, thanks to Westmoreland’s Staccato Gelato, your family can enjoy fall and winter afternoons at the ice cream shop as well.

If you’re feeling bold (as my son always is), you can, of course, get the creamy gelato. However, if you’re looking for something more seasonally appropriate, this outpost of Staccato has some great baked goods. The mini cookies are fantastic; I’m partial to the mint chocolate chip sandwich. On weekends, they have their made-on-site donuts, which are totally wonderful, as well as whimsically named: try the Fairy Princess or the Prince of Darkness.

They have all the regular selection of hot drinks as well as several breakfast and lunch choices. The space is clean and light-filled and there is a nice kids’ play area to boot. For all these reasons, a trip to Staccato Gelato in Westmoreland makes for a great treat, even on a chilly day.

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The jack-o-lanterns are starting to pile up on our doorstep, but we’re not done looking for the most sincere pumpkin patch yet. This week the kids and I revisited one of our favorites: the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island.

I think this is probably one of Portland’s most famous pumpkin patches. They’re best known for the five-acre corn maze, but even you decide not to pay seven bucks to get lost in the corn, you can still have a great time here with kids. The hayride out to the pumpkin patch is free, and so is the much tamer straw bale maze. There’s a huge straw pyramid for the kids to climb, and they were smart enough to build it next to the line for the hayride, so the kids can have fun instead of standing around. For a couple of bucks you can ride the cow train through the fields, and their animal barn features the cutest calf and the loudest chickens I’ve ever met face to face.

Pumpkins are sold by the pound, but they top out at seven dollars, so you can go ahead and hunt for the biggest one. They also have a fabulous farm store with fresh produce (it would be a shame to waste all that corn, after all) and flowers. They have food, too, although I think it’s much easier to cut across the St. John’s Bridge and grab something at Burgerville on the way and just have dessert (Marionberry cobbler, caramel apples -- good times!) at the pumpkin patch.

Crowds can be insane -- like Disneyland in the summer insane -- especially on the weekends and the closer it gets to Halloween. I wouldn’t even attempt it on a Saturday afternoon at this point, but if you go early enough or on a weekday, you’ll have a great time.

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When it comes to pumpkin patches, getting there is half the fun. Sitting on bales of hay getting pulled behind a tractor makes picking out your pumpkins a memorable event, so imagine how much fun it is when you kick that idea up a notch. The pumpkin patch at Lakeview Farm in North Plains doesn’t settle for your standard hay ride. Nope. To get to their pumpkin patch, you take a train...and a boat!

When you buy a ticket out to the pumpkin patch ($4 per rider) you get round trip transportation on either the little metal train that passes through a haunted barn (don’t worry about sensitive children, scary isn’t a word that would describe it) or the sternwheeler pontoon boat that takes you across their little lake, complete with sea monsters. The boat is fenced in and extremely childproof. (Trust me, because if anybody’s kids could figure out a way to go overboard, it would probably be mine.)

Everyone can take the boat out to the patch, play in the hay maze, fill a wheelbarrow with pumpkins, then take the train back in, and your kids will think it’s just bucketsful of awesome. Mine sure did. And the views! It was just so pretty out there; the Great Pumpkin himself might find it to be pretty sincere come Halloween Night, and I got some great photographs.

I also saw evidence of more attractions. It looks like they have pony rides and a caterpillar train and lots of food booths on the weekends, but none of that was set up when we visited. Of course, the place was blissfully uncrowded on a Wednesday afternoon, so I’m not complaining too hard about missing all those extra attractions.

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