God's Beauty in Fall (Free High Res Photos)

We decided to upload some photos from the beautiful state of Pennsylvania. If you've never been to the state of Pennsylvania, you don't know what you are missing. The following photos are for your personal use only. Please feel free to use them for birth announcements, invitations, desktop wallpaper or birthday cards. Note: Not for commercial use.

Columbus Day Sail on Baby Names!

If you love trivia like I do, then here's a few name ideas for babies born around Columbus Day. Did you know that Christopher Columbus was from Genoa, Italy, but sailed for Spain? His voyages were funded by “Isabella I” of Castile and “Ferdinand II” of Aragon.

The three ships that Columbus picked were the Santa Maria, the Santa Clara and the Pinta. The first, which Columbus sailed himself was called Santa Maria (or Saint Maria). The Santa Maria was named by Columbus for its fitting out location, El Puerto de Santa Maria. It was previously named La Gallega by it owner, Juan de la Cosa. The second ship, Santa Clara, was more commonly known by its nickname “Nina” meaning girl. The Nina was captained by Vincente Anes Pinzon. Finally, the Pinta meaning painted one was captained by Vincente's brother, Martin Alonso Pinzon.

Columbus made four voyages all together. The first one landing him and his crew on Hispaniola, the island of Haiti and Dominican Republic. Columbus died at the age of 55 of reactive Arthritis, believing that he reached the east coast of Asia, never realizing that he had discovered a new land.

Names associated with Columbus Day are...

Oktoberfest or Babyfest?

October is a time for fun, beer and babies. Hopefully not in that order. This brings me to Oktoberfest, thrown by the people in Munich, Germany. What a party this event must be. I understand that Oktoberfest is huge. How huge? It's considered the biggest fair in the world -- drawing over 6 million people during the two week event. Get this, almost 10 million liters of beer is consumed during Oktoberfest. Wow! We have nothing even close to that size in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. But there are some very nice and memorable events during the month of October. There is an Apple Fest in Franklin, PA where apples are abundant and the food takes center stage. I took the family there this year. And we had a blast! By the way, my youngest (who is three) loves apples. Just tonight, I made a chocolate souffle, but Daniel didn't eat any, instead he grabbed an apple. I actually have a child that says no to chocolate.

What else is October known for? Does baby births come to mind? Well, they should. According to Answers.com, October is the second largest month for baby births. I'm not sure why, but my guess is that it has something to do with the new year. Personally, none of my children were born in the month of October, or any of the Fall months. Maybe it's because my wife didn't want to be in her third trimester during the Fall. All this talk about October has made me thirsty, not for beer, but for hot apple cider. Yum. Yum.

Monsters vs. Aliens... Baby Names that are Scary

Halloween is almost upon us, so what's better than spooky baby names. OK, it's just for fun. I have to say, there are certain names that send chills through my bones. Many times these names are common, but when you say the names around Halloween, they take on a whole new meaning. An example would be "Jason". This name used any other time of the year would be very normal, not much thought would come to your mind. But during the last couple weeks of October, "Jason" has a different kind of impact. Who doesn't remember the movies, Friday the 13th based on the fictional character "Jason Voorhees". A few other names include Freddy, Chucky and Norman. Again, I don't think I have to tell you who comes to mind.

What monster names can you think of? The one that comes to my mind is "Medusa". This name can be found under our Mythology Category. This name means THREE. Medusa was a monster that had snakes for hair, and if you looked into her eyes you would turn to stone. Another name for me is Sulley. For some reason I can't seem to get past kids animated movies. Sulley was a monster from the movie, Monsters Inc.

Alien names are more difficult for me. I could say "Jar Jar Binks", but this character ruined Star Wars for me. What a dumb character. The only name that really sticks out to me is Clark Kent or Superman. Technically he's an alien. Clark means Clergyman and if you think about it, that's really close to Clark's personality (Not Superman's).

What do you consider scarier, Monsters or Aliens? If you can think of another Monster or Alien name that's better than mine, I would like to know.

Rock and Roll Hall of Names

I was sitting around thinking of a category for baby names and listening to the rock group Foreigner. Then a light bulb went off, "what about Rock and Roll names." So, I put together a quick list of Rock and Roll names from A to Z. Here's what I came up with...

• Alice Cooper
• Buddy Holly
• Chuck Berry
• David Bowie
• Elvis Presley
• Freddie Mercury

Click READ MORE for more names.

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