Indiana tailgating

All sorts of family descended on Indiana University this past weekend to attend the Homecoming football game against Northwestern.  We wanted to help Abbey celebrate her 18th birthday AND cheer on our cousin, Brandon (the punter for Northwestern).  We started the day with a chilly tailgate outside the stadium.  Abbey brought along her friends Megan and Marissa to hang out too.

My sister's coat just so happened to match IU's colors.

Great Aunt Bev and Great Uncle Leo had to support their grandson, Brandon, by wearing his jersey.  We decorated the tailgate carefully with 50% purple and 50% crimson to show our loyalty to both sides.

Mom, Erin, and I tried to warm up in the van.

Melanie (Brandon's mom) was sporting some super cool purple boots that I accidentally cut out of the picture.

Cuddling for warmth!

Peter partied a little too hard and had to take a little break.

I didn't get many photos of Sonia at the tailgate, but that's her in the panda hat.  She and Charlotte set up camp in the back of Erin's car to play during the tailgate.

The stadium is small but cute.  Even the nosebleed seats we got had a pretty good view of the action.

I took Petey and Sonia back to Erin's hotel for naps while Abbey, my mom, Charlotte, Erin, Corey, and my dad cheered on IU (and Brandon) at the game.

Charlotte apparently made up all her own cheers.  They involved strange things like grocery stores.

After the game, we descended upon the Brown County State Park lodge dining room and wreaked havoc.

Cheese!

Our second or third cousin (I'm never sure how to calculate it), Sarah, also attends IU, so she and her parents (cousins of my mom and Brandon's dad) joined us for the tailgate and dinner as well.  I bet my mom got better photos of everyone, so watch for them on Erin's blog.

The next morning, we had some breakfast, said our goodbyes to Abbey, and headed back to the cabin at the state park (where Corey, Charlotte, Peter, and I stayed) to pack up.  Well, Corey and I packed up while the kids had the time of their lives in the leaves.

I'm not sure why, but our cabin was named for someone named "Grandma Pash" who apparently looked something like this:

After we packed up, we hit the state park lodge's indoor water park.  Corey went down the big slide a few times, but the kids mostly just splashed around in the pool.

Then, we turned the Big Red Van south and headed home.  It was an action-packed weekend and we came home exhausted.  Mission accomplished!

Attack of the pumpkin carver

"Daddy," says Charlotte, "you're doing it wrong."

I asked Charlotte to show me a scary face.  I'm scared, but probably not for the reason she intended.

For some reason, Peter decided he needed to camp out under the table with Bubba Pig.

I asked Charlotte to demonstrate a goofy face.

Charlotte tried to draw what the face of Peter's pumpkin should look like.

But then she got distracted and started mugging for the camera.

Peter migrated out from under the table, but he stuck with Bubba Pig while we finished carving the pumpkins.  I didn't take any photos of the finished products, but I plan to remedy that oversight tomorrow.

Randomness by cell phone

I have crocheted countless baby blankets for all sorts of newborns, but this one may qualify as the weirdest one.  Anyone who knows the baby's father will completely understand though.

On a completely unrelated note: IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!  The way Pacey shrieks and hisses whenever Rocky comes within 8 miles of him is loud enough to wake the dead.  And yet today I found them resting together on my bed.  It didn't last long once they figured out I was documenting the moment for posterity.  (I sent this photo to my mom on the cell phone and the first thing she commented on wasn't my adorable cats but my unmade bed.  Thank you very little, Mom.)

ROCKY! GET DOWN FROM THERE!!

You are NOT allowed to jump up and sit Peter's booster seat to lick yogurt off the table where Peter painted it during breakfast a few moments ago.  NOT ALLOWED!  Do you hear me?  I don't think you do.  Sigh.

We gotta work on this kid's modeling skills

At library story time last week, Peter posed for the camera saying "CHEESE".  Most people smile when they say "cheese".  Peter just looks a little freaky.

Yes, he is a super handsome little dude, but somebody better get him a gift certificate to Barbizon.

Trip to the Cider Mill

Last Sunday, NanaB and GrandDad took Charlotte and me to the Rochester Mills Cider Mill, one of the Rochester area's four cider mills.  

NanaB chose this cider mill for Charlotte because it had some fun things for pre-schoolers, like sheep to pet . . .

 . . . and hay bales to climb.  (Even NanaB climbed some hay bales, too.)

Yay!

After playing outside, we headed in.

Charlotte picked out a little pumpkin.

The cider mill had a great selection of pumpkins and gourds.

NanaB and a display.

Being a cider mill, they had lots of apples for sale.

Here's the cider press in action.

We settled down with cider mill donuts and cider for a mid-morning snack.

Mmmm.  Cider mill donuts . . . . with sprinkles!

There's just something nice about a place that advertises "pies" on the building . . .

My traveling buddy on his trip to (and from) Dallas

Hey!  There are planes outside the window!  PLANES, MOMMY!

I love love love the play area outside Gate C18.  I think I went down this slide 49 times.

Holy cow!  This plane is so cool!  And I got my own seat!!

Those dudes out there with the luggage sure are having fun throwing those bags around.

I think Bubba Bear needs me to feed him some pretzels.

Now that we're on our way home from Dallas, I can honestly say that I love to fly on an airplane.

And I seriously LOVE these little bags of pretzels.

All right!  Last plane from Houston to Nashville.  Let's get this puppy off the ground!

What?  Whaddya mean this flight is full and I have to sit on your lap?  I think I should demand to play with my cars the whole time and throw a fit if you don't pick them up immediately every time I drop them accidentallyonpurpose.  It shouldn't be a problem for you to bend down to blindly grope around on that dirty airplane floor to retrieve my cars with me sitting on your lap and sitting next to a guy with the broadest shoulders in the world, right?  Right??

[Actually, Petey was a pretty darn good boy on the airplanes.  He didn't fly nearly as much as his sister did in her first few years of life, but you would never know he's not a seasoned pro.  Soon he'll be too old to be a lap child and I'll have to pony up and buy him his own seat on an airplane.  He's growing up so fast!]