August, or The Month in Which Nothing Happened

Maaaan, you wanna talk about boring. . . let's talk about frickin' August.

Holy crap.

If you'll recall, May - July was absolutely insane around these parts.  Whirlwind Disney trips, field trips, selling our home, saying goodbyes, moving to Michigan, unloading crap into a new house, greeting old friends and family, going on vacations, weekend getaways with others, etc.

Now all that crap is settled and out of the way.  And we've spent the last four weeks doing absolutely nothing.

Seriously.

Kris and I spend the mornings job-hunting and working on necessary paperwork (school registrations, bill-paying, shopping lists, etc.), while the girls run around the house getting on each other's nerves and making an ungodly racket.  Around lunchtime, Kris takes the girls up to Plymouth Park to get them out of the house, while I work on side-project crap.  In the afternoon, the girls are unleashed into the neighborhood to play with their friends, and Kris and I continue to job search, chores around the house, read, work on side project/freelance crap, or else - when all other options have been exhausted - watch tv and play videogames.   The girls are recalled for dinner, and afterwards we just kinda hang out together until they go to bed and Kris and I watch TV until we go to sleep.

That happens five times a week.  Then again on the weekends.

Why wouldn't a kid want to meditate on a bath towel in the front yard?  That's normal, right?

Sure, we visit with family and friends, and have done a few other things, but nothing ridiculously crazy - it's been a really, really low-key month, compared to what we went through the previous three months.  School starts in two weeks, and we're really looking forward to it, 'cause these kids of ours are driving us f***ing CRAZY.

Anyway, good to see ya again - enjoy the pictures.

Family bike ride on our way over to Grandma's for dinner (it's about a mile and a half ride.)  Here Abby and I wait on the corner of Swede and Sugnet for Kris and Alayna to catch up (Alayna, unlike her more adventurous little sister, is still relying on training wheels, and rides at a maddeningly slow pace.)

Here we are waiting on the corner of St. Andrews and Sugnet, again waiting for Alayna and Kris.

(She insists on walking her bike across the street.  EVERY DAMN TIME.)

My alma mater (for half of 7th grade.)

. . .and then my other alma mater (for sixth grade, conveniently right next door.)

Doing donuts in the parking lot, waiting for Kris and Alayna to catch up.

Hough ladies, riding in formation.

Extended fam, waiting around for dinner.

Impromptu footrest.

Saddling back up after dinner.

About a week later, Kris decided to theme dinner around a movie. . . and so ended up with Ratatouille. 

Instead of out-sourcing the labor to talking rats, we opted to handle all food prep ourselves this time around.

Kinda peeling a tomato.

Looking at pictures ('cause I know she's not reading that level of text.)

I read this Star Wars comic book to Abby every single night.  And, of course, I have to give every single character in the story their very own voice (Abby gets pissed if I don't impersonate the film's various characters accurately.)

Finally hung up Kris' precious Adara mirror.  That only took two months.

Sunbathing on the side walk with one of the neighbor kids.

Plotting afoot.

We decided to move the karaoke system downstairs in the basement, and out of the living room.  Since the move, it's gotten about 300% more use.

Jam session to Kidz Bop, a Hough Household favorite.

Painting some ceramics at Creative 360 (a birthday present from the Whites.)

No, they didn't sculpt this - they just painted it with glaze (or whatever.)

Chillin' with Big Boy - that lovable Elias Bros. bastard.

At Stratford Woods Park - a nearby park with a 'beach.'

A futile search for sea shells (we didn't have the heart to tell them that this is an inland lake.)

Gorgeous, gorgeous sand.

Thrilled parent.

A decent watering hole, and only about a mile from our house.

In about two months, we're going to hate these things. . .

BEFORE:  Okay, so I picked up yet another hobby lately (what with all my free time these days, that shouldn't be all that surprising) - restoring my old bike.  The bike you see here - a 1976 Schwinn Varsity - used to be belong my Dad, but he gave me the bike when I returned from Africa in 2005.  It still had the original tires/tubes and seat, and besides having the rear wheel re-trued in 2009, I haven't done anything to it.  There was some minor rusting on the chrome, and paint chipping in a few places, and eventually it got to the point where I had to re-inflate my tires after every ride.  So, around mid-July, I decided to bring the bike back to life. . .

AFTER:  First, I re-polished all the chrome to its original luster, and had the bike techs at Ray's Bike Shop in Midland give the bike an inspection.  Thankfully, they said the bike was in excellent, 'Like New' condition (all brakes, shifters, and drivetrain were perfect), so all I needed to do was buy some new tires and tubes (which they special-ordered for me and installed.)  I then purchased a vintage rear bike-rack, a British-imported leather bag (behind the seat), and a saddlebag for the top bar that safely houses my Samsung Galaxy 6s in a transparent, center pouch (so I can listen to music and utilize my GPS while riding.)  My next purchase will be a removable briefcase/laptop bag that mounts to my rear rack, so that I don't have to tie down an existing bag (but that might have to end up on a Christmas list or something - we'll see.)

As far as the paint situation goes, it just so turns out that Dad still had a tube of the original paint lying around his workbench, and - miraculously - it was also like new.  Booya.

Had to drop about $200 in order to fix Kris' car - I attempted to drive it to the store one day, and the shifting cable broke.  Thank God it was a relatively simple fix.

Remember when Chris and I went on that Pub Crawl in Grand Rapids with Lucy and Larry?  Well, this is what Kris was doing in the meantime. . . swimming at Dad and Cindy's with her Mom.

This was a definite milestone for the Cannonball - she finally became brave enough to stick her head all the way under water.  First step towards swimming on her own. . .

The morning after the Pub Crawl (in which Chris and I snuck out of Al's place at 5am, and drove back up to Clare by 7am), Cindy treated us and my nephew Blake to breakfast at the White House, in downtown Clare.

I used to come here with friends in high school, as it was one of those places back in the day that didn't ask you whether or not you were old enough to smoke cigarettes, so long as you kept buying coffee (the Smoking section, by the way, was literally two feet away from the Non-Smoking section. . . which doesn't really make a whole hell of a lot of sense.) 

Waiting for the food to arrive (the kids were fans of the establishment.)

While, Cindy, Blake and I finished our food, Kris walked the girls down to Cops and Doughnuts for some posed photo ops. . .

We found this sign on the girls' bedroom door, after Alayna stormed off to her room for one reason or another.  I thought we'd have a few more years before we entered this phase, but I guess I was wrong. . .

Having lunch at Plymouth Park (Abby hates the camera.)

Abby's attempt at doing her own make-up before going out in the neighborhood to play with friends. . .

At the Midland Mall (I think)

We found Abby like this in her room, after she asked to have some space by herself for awhile (I think she fell asleep listening to the CD-Book of Return of the Jedi. . .

Dad and I took the girls by to visit with Granny Hough during one visit to Clare (they haven't seen her in four years, I think.)  While we were there, Granny let the girls pick random puzzles and books from her basement to take home to keep (as she has no need for them anymore - she hasn't been in her own basement in over three years, due to her failing health.)

While we were there, I finally scored this 20" tall, hand carved, Aztec statue that Granny bought in Mexico back in the late 60s.  She promised me this back in 2008, when Grandpa Hough died and she was getting rid of stuff, but until now I've never had the opportunity to take it home with me ('cause usually I was traveling from Florida, and my suitcase space was limited.)  Due to her failing memory, she forgot all about the fact she had promised me this, so Dad insisted I sneak it out under my shirt when we left (which I did.)  It's an awesome piece, now displayed proudly in my living room.

Some of the books I took for the girls from Granny's basement.  A lot of vintage stuff she's held onto since we were all kids in the '80s.  I ended up just taking a large cardboard box and filling it with stuff in the basement while Dad and the girls visited with her upstairs in the living room.

Some old school puzzles I used to put together as a kid back in the '80s.

My kids love their Books on CD, as I used to enjoy my Books on Cassette.  This, obviously, predates both of these mediums.

Taking the girls to shoot hoops at Griese Park, conveniently a one-minute walk from our front porch. . .

Another generation of athletic Houghs. . .

Kicking the basketball down the sidewalk on the walk back to the house. . . 'cause that's how MY kids play basketball.

Weirdos.

I feel for this dog.  I really, really do.

Training the Cannonball in the art of Super Mario World (SNES.)

Grandma teaches Alayna how to play Checkers (which, oddly enough, was harder for her to learn than Chess was. . . go figure.)

Visiting with Grandma and Grandpa Jordan.

Lately we've had issues with Abby lying and sneaking things around the house - I guess it's common with five-year-olds, but we're still weirded out by it.  She ate half a bag of Kris' Dove chocolates one day, hiding all the wrappers in one of the bathroom.  After being punished for this, Kris put the chocolates on top of the fridge.  Shortly thereafter, we heard a crash in the kitchen, and found this upon our arrival to the scene. . .

Consequently, Abby was grounded for three days, and lost all screen (TV, videogames, etc.) and friend privileges.  In addition, we also twisted the dagger in her heart by robbing her of her favorite thing - Star Wars.  She was forbidden to play with any of her Star Wars toys, and we confiscated all her Star Wars books (see above).  Only then did she truly comprehend the severity of her sentence (which worked, by the way - she hasn't stolen anything since.) 

After nearly two months of hanging by a thread, the Cannonball's third tooth falls out (knocked out by a hammock accident at the neighbors' house, no less.)  Guess how much fun we had looking for a baby tooth in a grassy backyard at 10pm at night?  Go ahead.  Guess.

Hitting up the Roller Rink in Midland (I wish they made these walkers for adults - I suck at rollerskating.)

Who says Florida beaches are better than Michigan beaches?   Oh, wait. . .

- Brian