Well, THAT'S Over With…

So now that all the boxes are unpacked, the pictures (mostly) hung, the in-law visits are done, Halloween is done, Gwen's birthday party has been thrown, and October and all it's "B(.)(.)Biness" is over, I suppose it's time to get back to real life, and tell you what's been going on around the here.  So here's a little trip into the time machine, back to the late summer, early fall.

Don't forget your tin-foil hat.

This first picture I had to snap in secret.  You know how it is.  You're out in public and you cannot believe what you are seeing.  In this case, it was during the river cruise that Cora and I took with her father when he was in town delivering her stuff.  While on out Lake Michigan cruise, a man sat next to me, wearing those shoes.  Let me correct that: an adult male.  I really have to question the manhood of anyone wearing a pointy toed, cloth slipper in public in the middle of the day.  But, more of an explanation than a defense, he was European.

For Labor Day, we went down to Kewanee, IL for "Hog Days".  It's a classis small town summer-fest.  Carnival, midway, parade, and pork burgers.  Yeah, I'll get to them last.

The Hog Days parade is a classic.  And now, instead of being 15 miles from my parent's house, it's about 1.5 blocks.  You have to get to the park early to stake out your spot.  The parade is full of local high school marching bands, antique farm equipment, floats, Shriners, fire trucks, and a huge septic truck with "Yesterday's Meals On Wheel" written on the side.

And then there are some of the "novelty" entries.  There is actually someone in that little ambulance, driving along the route.  Now, I'm really not sure what's going on with the guy in the purple Prowler.  I took the picture, because one of my uncle has a purple Prowler.  But I hope he doesn't have a blond wig.

The parade was full of nostalgia for me, and more tractors than Gwen & Cora had ever seen in all the parades in their lives wrapped in one.  But eventually, the parade ended with the horses, and we took off.

The next day, we had a little reception for our marriage for a lot of friends and family that couldn't make it out to Seattle.  On the way home, we saw this sign:

Nice.  Isn't publicly humiliating a 16 year old girl your definition of "love", too?

After the party, the girls and I headed up to the carnival.

I shot about 20 pictures while they were on the swings.  This the closest I got to a good picture.

And then Gwen and I got ready for our ride on the Ferris wheel.

By the look on Gwen's face, I can only imagine she was having a good time.  I, personally, was just starting to get motion sick when the ride ended.

But I recovered my appetite just in time for one of the great, simple pleasures of life:
       
The pork burger sandwich. That dude, (well, one that ISN'T half eaten) runs you an entire $1.50.  I had two.  And one of the $3.00 butterfly pork chop sandwiches.  And I relearned a lesson from my youth: the pork burgers are better.

That's some of what's been going on around here.

Catch you up more in a bit.

 

 

-- Pssst… You can take the tin foil hat off.  I was just kidding.