Happy Halloween!

Astrid and Wonder Woman hope you had a "Boo-tiful" night!

God, that was lame.

Skate night

So while I'm off having a nice dinner, my little girl is learning to roller skate.
As long as she's not kissing boys in the arcade ...

Old. So very old.

"Dad, what's this?"

Training regimin

Daughter is rolling around on my bed – with a sword and shield – grunting and yelling.

Hey K – whatcha doing?

Hi Dad. I'm pretending this is a boat.

A boat?

A viking boat.

Oh yeah?

Yes. We are going to fight a dragon.

A dragon?

Yes, a big dragon. It is so big that three of us are going. Hiccup, Tuffnut and Astrid.

Oh.

And I'm Astrid.

I see that.

(Continues grunting, rolling and miming throwing) We have to do exercises to get ready.

Ok, you should do some push ups.

Dad.

What?

I can't do those.

But it's exercise.

(Rolls eyes) Dad – we only do dangerous exercises.

A visit from the Godfather

Daddy, who are we going to see today?

Well, my godparents are coming to visit and we're going to go to dinner with them.

What are their names?

Their names are Uncle Melhi and Aunt Bahktu.

*snicker*

What's so funny?

*laughing* Bahktu is a silly name.

It's not a silly name. It's just a different kind of name than you are used to hearing. And it's not very polite to laugh at someone's name. You wouldn't like it if someone laughed at your name, would you?

No, Daddy.

Now, what are their names?

Uncle Melhi and Aunt *snickering* Bahktu.

Kaylee …

Don't worry Daddy. I won't laugh at her name when she is here. But I will laugh when it's just you and me because it's still kind of funny.

And, just for the record, she didn't laugh. Not once.

Skate or Die

Dad, when do they tell you all the rules in this town?

The rules?

Yeah. For driving and stuff.

Well, when you are older, there is a special class you can take where they teach you all the rules you need to know to drive.

Did you and Mommy take that class?

Yes we did.

Well, I don't think I want to take that class.

You need to take it if you want to learn to drive a car.

That's OK. I think I'll just skateboard.

Worn out

A long weekend with Uncle Ry is a lot for a little girl. But she doesn't need a nap. No sir. Just ask her.

Illinois trip – Photo dump

There are a severe lack of photos from the second half of our trip – because I was too lazy to take out my camera at that point. Besides, Becky took a bunch of pictures. I'm sure she will update her blog any day now.

Yep. Any. Day. Now.

Apple picking and pumpkin patching with the Grammy and the Evrley girls. I think she's excited.

Nothing special, still waiting in line. I just liked this one.

In the cart and on our way to the orchard. I included this one because Roberta did a really good job of avoiding my camera. And in most of the other shots I have of her she either has her mouth full of apples or her eyes closed. Or both.

I don't think anyone picked apples off the trees. We were content with those on the ground.

Because they were delicious. (And make great pies. Even if the crust isn't home-made.)

I caught mom without her smile on.

All smiles on the wagon.

But here's how they normally look.

Kaylee takes a ride on my favorite swing. Duncan Park is one of my favorite places in the world. Close enough to home that Mom let me walk there by myself. Far enough away that it still felt like an adventure.

Nothing says Duncan Park quite like the cannon.

I'm pretty sure this slide is solid enough that she'll be able to let her kids sit up there.

More silly faces with my girls – and I try out "Blue Steel." (Izzy's not included because she was napping – and because she wouldn't come near me all week. I think she's scared of the beard.)

Racheal caught my superior parenting style on camera. Being Dad of the Year is a lot of hard work.

This trip marked both Kaylee's and my first visit to the cemetery since Mom died. It took Kaylee asking to visit to get me to go back out there.

Hammerhang Lincoln.

I found this on the stairs going into the basement. I remember "Mark 1968" etching his place in history in the brick wall opposite this. Sometime around high school I decided to do the same. Not sure who left the annotation though.