Our Ward's Halloween Party 2008

Last night was our ward's Halloween party. Well, it was actually more of a Young Men's/Young Women's event than anything. They set up all the rooms and the games and were basically in charge.

Everyone had a good time, especially the little kids. They all got to dress up in their costumes and be super heroes for an evening. I noticed that there seemed to be a medieval theme this year. Lot's of peasant women and knights walking around last night. I'm not sure what was up with that.

Thankfully there were no political costumes last night. No Palins or Obamas walking around. I wore my usual "befuddled dad" costume. Once again no one offered me candy this year. Maybe they think I'm already too fat.

The Great Pumpkin Patch

One of the many traditions in our household is picking our Halloween pumpkins. The least expensive way of doing this is to go to our local grocery store and grab a couple of pumpkins for around $3.00 each. We've tried this before but I have to admit that it's not satisfying on any level.

This year we tried the most expensive way of picking our pumpkins. More specifically we visited "The Great Pumpkin Patch" in Arcola, IL. Actually it's probably Sullivan, IL but close enough.

The first clue that it was going to be pricey was the entrance fee. Huh? I have to pay to get in? Yes, indeedy, but in the end it was worth it.

There were a massive number of pumpkins to pick from, though after a while they all began to look the same. There were a variety of penned-in animlas to look at, mostly chickens and bunnies with a few goats and pigs tossed in for good measure. There were several mazes, though the corn maze was a big disappointment because the high winds from hurricane Ike knocked most of the corn stalks down. At least that's what the sign said. More likely it was a screaming horde of kids that knocked the stalks down.

The maze made from hay bales was a big hit with the kids. There was a large sign outside the entrance that warned against running while in the maze. Of course, my kids ignored this sign and a few moments later they conked their noggins together. Thankfully, they didn't hit too hard. Secretly I was happy that they crashed into each other and didn't take some other kid down. Try explaining to some other parent why their kid has a hole in his head.

One of the fun things to do there is to take a picture of your kids sitting in the Pumpkin King and Pumpkin Queen chairs. Why was this especially fun? Well, for us it was fun because no matter how many times I took a picture Cami would have her eyes closed. I must have taken 10 pictures until I remembered that my camera has a burst mode. Taking 4 rapid pictures allowed me to finally get a picture of the kids with their eyes open.

One thing that we all enjoyed was seeing a pumpkin get launched using a trebuchet. See the video below. Sorry the picture is so dark. We were facing into the sun and I didn't get a chance to reposition myself. After the launch they measured the distance and the pumpkin traveled 475 feet! It was way cool.

Laboring On Labor Day

This last Labor Day weekend our family decided to head up to St. Joseph, Michigan for Summer's last gasp. Lake Michigan can't really be considered tropical by any stretch of the imagination but the beaches in St. Joseph are really nice as Great Lakes beaches go. Lake Michigan almost warms up by the end of summer and the water feels sort of warm once you become numb.

One of the nicest beaches up there is called Silver Beach (uh, at least I think that's what it's called). It's clean and there is plenty of room for everyone, though it's crowded enough that it might be hard to plunk yourself down by the water. One of the downsides of Silver Beach is the large number of young adults who are trying to hook up with other equally beautiful people and it can get a little irritating for the rest of us to sit in the middle of this meat market.

Down the road from Silver Beach is the Lions Beach. This beach is owned and maintained by the Lions Club. While not as nice as Silver Beach there are a lot fewer people so it's easy to find yourself a spot by the water. They have a nice park for the kids, see the video above for an example, and the bathroom facilities are pretty good. Are you like me that you have to pee a lot more when you're near water? What's up with that?

It's Fun To Be Dirty

On our trip out East this summer we stopped at Williamsburg. We enrolled our kids in the "Apprentice" program that allows them to participate in some of the activities in the village. The funnest activity was to stomp around in the mud used to make bricks. The little girl in pink and the shortest boy, the one with the light blue shirt and dark blue shorts, are my kids. Notice how dirty the little girl gets.

After she was done she was so dirty that her mom had to make her a new skirt out of a plastic bag. Both kids had the best time. I thought it was amusing how horrified other parents were that their kids got a little muddy.

My opinion is kids are supposed to get dirty. I can understand being irritated if your kids get dirty while they are wearing church clothes or if it's just a few minutes before pictures at school, but on a normal day (especially on vacation) kids are supposed to have fun and get dirty.

It was very fun and I'm sure that both kids will have fond memories of the village. Maybe some day they'll take their kids there.

Time Flies...

It's so hard for me to believe that it has been exactly three years since this photo was taken. It seems like it was just yesterday.

What you can't see in this photo is the death and destruction left behind while trying to get these two lovely children ready for church. Once one was dressed the other would take their shoes off, spill something on themselves, throw themselves down the stairs, or something equally unhelpful.

To this day I'm amazed how beautiful my children are.

Bring on the Snow!!

I love snow! My kids do, too. We haven't even had our first snow yet and my kids are already asking to go sledding.

Are you like me and prefer the old style "red flyer" type sleds? I can't understand why anyone would ever want one of those plastic saucers or even a toboggan, although togoggans are real nice for getting loads of people on the same sled at one time. Neither of these type of sleds can come close to the speed or maneuverability of a red flyer. Of course, before sledding you need to sand the runners smooth and it doesn't hurt to wax them up.

Ah, there's nothing like flying down a hill with your kids screaming in terror. I can't wait.

Beautiful Shenandoah

One of the things I am embarrassed about in my life is how little I have travelled. I have spent my entire life in the Chicagoland area, and with the exception of some trips to our surrounding states (Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, etc) I haven't really been anywhere interesting. I've tried to rectify this over the last couple of years.

This summer we took a trip out to Washington, DC, and Virginia Beach, with a couple of side trips along the way. Here is one of my favorite photos from the trip. It was taken on a scenic lookout in Shenandoah National Park. The elevation was somewhere around 3,000 feet.

Just beyond these rocks there was a dropoff that went down several hundred feet. My wife was freaked out that the kids were jumping around these rocks like a couple of mountain goats, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

The park is just beautiful and I bet it's even nicer when the leaves change color during the Fall. One of these years I plan on taking the kids camping there.

Let the Fall Festivities Begin

I'm a person that really enjoys the change of seasons. I love snow. Throwing snowballs with the kids and building snowmen and snow forts can be some of the best moments you can ever spend with your children.

Spring offers flowers and wonderful weather and the mosquitos haven't had a chance to catch up with us. Spring BBQ's are the best.

Summer gives us a chance to take our vacations and forget about homework for a while.

But for me, Fall is the best time of year. The weather begins to cool off (giving us a break on our electricity bill), the leaves turn glorious colors, and....we get to go apple picking!

This year we went to Homestead Orchard in Woodstock, IL. They have great apples and the couple that owns the orchard is very nice.

Reigning the kids in can be difficult though. My daughter picks every apple she can get her hands on, regardless of it's size, color, smell, etc. Within minutes she has what feels like 500 lbs of apples. And if you have children you know what's coming next. That's right, she wants me to carry the bags.

My son on the other hand has his own technique. He won't be happy until he finds the perfect apple. Oh, wait! There it is at the very top of the tree. Dad, can you lift me up so I can grab it?

Great stuff. I love it and wouldn't have it any other way.

Another Week Under the Bridge

It's amazing how quickly time flies these days. When I was a child the summer break between school grades felt like it would never end. These days summer is just three or four paychecks. But, I must say that today's weather is absolutely splendid.

My father-in-law went in to the hospital this weekend for quadruple bypass surgery. He came through it like a champ and it made me think about the amazing things people can do that we just take for granted these days. I find it incredible that by-pass surgery has become "routine".

Tennis Anyone?

I, along with my family, live in Des Plaines, IL. It’s a lovely little hamlet situated just Northwest of Chicago. In fact, if you have ever flown out of O’Hare airport there is a strong possibility that you flew over my house. And please, next time don’t flush until you’re over Wisconsin.

There are many benefits of living in Des Plaines. For example, Ray Kroc’s first ever McDonalds restaurant is in our town and there are many social activities that families can participate in.

One of the biggest community activities is schedule every couple of years or so. The whole town gets together and we tear up our carpets, we throw out some of our most prized possessions, and we drain our basements. Sometimes this festival is called “just another freaking flood in Des Plaines”.

One of these festivities occurred last week when it rained for almost 4 days straight. After about 36 hours of this rain the Des Plaines river swelled and gave everyone in town a big ol’ hug. The picture above is an example. It’s my back yard under about 2 feet of water.

We love it here. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Hey, maybe my insurance company knew something I didn't? See below...

There Were Flying Rats Everywhere!

What is it about children that they love to feed the various critters in the world? The video above was taken during a visit to the Smithsonian museum in Washington, DC. Our kids were completely uninterested in the various exhibits but they loved the pidgeons. Had I known this I would not have driven that far to see them. We've got pidgeons here in our own town!

Just FYI, the Air and Space Museum was very cool. More on that later...

I Love Taxes!

We got some nasty news the other day. Our flood insurance premium for our house went up $1,000/year. Our premium used to be $350/year, now it's over $1,300/year.

I'm so excited! I can't imagine anything better than being crushed by even more taxes and fees.

By the way, flood insurance is not optional. We can't opt out so we're stuck with paying the premium. Life is good!