You've got your pick of Halloween activities this weekend, with lots of trick-or-treating, haunted houses, a ghost train, pumpkin displays, Halloween parades and festivals, and even some spooky science. So grab your costumes and go!

Parents of young children with language delays may be interested in a free presentation Thursday afternoon by a speech pathologist specializing in "augmented" communication techniques, such as computers that speak or sign language.

Our yard is what you might call squirrel friendly.

Older neighborhood, mature trees, plenty of room for nests, berries everywhere and, most enticing of all, an oak tree loaded with acorns right across the street. The squirrels even eat the smelly fruit that falls from our infamous gingko tree (a behavior I’m happy to encourage).

If you, like me, are desperately planning a fall party for your child's classroom this week -- or just a Halloween party for the kids at home -- here are a couple of websites that might be useful.

Halloween is just around the corner, so take a ghost train ride, check out some cool pumpkin displays or go for a spooky skate this weekend! For a full Halloween calendar of events, check the E3 magazine in Thursday's News-Gazette.

So your son won’t touch broccoli? Can’t choke down green beans? Even turns up his nose at carrots?

Bring him to Urbana’s Market at the Square this weekend, where the last “Sprouts at the Market” event of the season will offer kids a chance to sample locally grown fruits and vegetables and learn about hunger in their own back yard.

Be among the first to play in Mahomet's newest park this weekend at the dedication of Bridle Leash Park! Lots of activities for the younger set, including a Kid-Friendly Haunted Barn. On that theme, you can also decorate a pumpkin in Tolono or enjoy music at the Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur.

I didn't really plan to spend $18.25 on pumpkins.

We got into Halloween decorating in a big way last weekend, so the kids and I trekked out to Negangard's Pumpkin Patch near Sidney with some friends. The prices are so cheap we sort of went overboard.

I got a letter the other day from my friends at the American Girl company in Middleton, Wis.

Well, it wasn’t to me personally, just all of us poor saps who granted our daughters’ wish for an American Girl doll — in this case, Felicity Merriman and/or her best friend, Elizabeth Cole.