Randoms of the September Variety

What's up, America.

September's a weird, weird month.  Aside from the whole Back to School thing - which is hands down the biggest focus of the month - September serves as a hardcore transitionary month, I think moreso than any other month of the calendar.  Towards the beginning, it's still summer and it's still super hot out.  By the end, there are leaves falling, folks have Halloween decorations up, and we're off in full-blown Fall mode.

I can't think of another month that has such stark contrasts at either end of its spectrum.

Anyway, we were kept pretty busy this month.  Back to school is insane, sure enough, but we had a lot of other crap going on as well.  I'll let you peruse through this month's installment of all things Random on your own, from this, the seventh month of the pre-Julian calendar.

Enjoy.

While out at the girls' favorite shopping destination, Five Below, where they frequently go to burn through their allowance money, I saw this totally badass Star Wars poster.  Rest assured, I didn't let Kris leave my side until I went through the whole poster, telling her which ones I used to own and which ones i didn't.  She wasn't impressed.

Alayna shows off the matching dog leash/girl anklet set she picked up at Five Below.

Neflix recently made some changes to their menu interface, and you can now customize your own user profile icons.  One evening, after we had put the girls to bed, Kris and I turned on Netflix and found this assortment of icons.  You can guess just by looking at these which child of ours was responsible for the switch.

The last weekend of the summer, Dad and Cindy took the girls for a sleepover. . . and one last weekend swimming before the beginning of the school year.  Following a swim, Alayna snuggles with Dad and Cindy's new puppy, Finley.

Sugar and dogs.

While the kids were away in Clare, Kris and I joined up with a few of our fellow CHE parent friends to construct a couple Gaga Ball pits at the school, courtesy of the PTO.

We thought this would take something like an hour to do, but we were there for quite awhile - these pits were pretty big.

The finished product, all ready for the coming school year.  These pits are insanely popular with kids.

Meanwhile, in Clare, it was time for a fine, local breakfast. . .

. . . and then more swimming.

Shortly after the first day of school, it was time for our Fantasy Football Draft (I had previously mentioned this to you guys before.)  We reserved a section at Big E's for this purpose - I guess they have special Draft packages you can buy for events like this.

This process was waaaay more complicated than I thought it would be.  I don't think I'm really the Fantasy Football sorta guy.

My team sucks.

The end of the First Week of School.

We got Alayna's annual MSTEP standardized test scores back.  She does pretty well on these things.

The Writing test threw her off a little last year, but she generally does okay with it.  I just hope she's ready for the level of work she's going to get in 5th grade - I hear it's brutal.

One day  at work, while my students were off to lunch, I glanced out my classroom window and saw this going on.  Totally random, and I have absolutely no idea what the heck it was (aside from water, obviously.)

Kris and the girls went on some walk-a-thon for something or other, about half-way through the month.  I can't keep track of all the walking bullshit that takes place during the months of September and October, it's ridiculous.  If I had to guess, this probably has something to do with cancer.  When in doubt, always go with cancer.

When you raise readers. . .

Kris' office was entered into a pumpkin contest this month, and this is what the ladies came up with  (they ended up winning.)

One weekend, Kris and her friend Kim took the kids out to Dow Gardens.  I was probably doing yard work or some other such nonsense.

Alayna hams up yet another selfie. . .

I ran the sprinklers in the backyard while the dog was out back.  This is what always happens.

My dog's an idiot.

Enjoying some great fall beers over at a Shepherd family pool party. . .

Morgan attempts to lift his own weight.  Hilarity ensues.

My first Sick Day of the school year.  Alayna was down with a sore throat and fever, so I ended up having to take the day off and run her over to an urgent care to rule out Strep (fortunately she didn't have it.)

Saw this out at my favorite beer store, Cork and Ale, and couldn't pass it up.  I mean, come on. . . frickin' PIRATES.

Our names were officially added to the family's Cornhole Tournament hall of fame board, at long last.  Our victory should have been highlighted in some way, I think, since Rowley played hungover as shit and I was hobbling about on a broken toe. . . and yet we still claimed victory.  Whatever.

Some cigars Eric gave me.  Apparently one of his neighbors deals in cigars, and dropped off a bunch to his house.  He doesn't smoke, and so gave them to me (since I'm a big pipe aficionado.)

The third week of the month, Alayna and a bunch of elementary-aged girls throughout the city all assembled over at Stratford Park for a big fun run (I forget what it was called, exactly.)

Seriously, this is going to drive me crazy.  Girls on the Run, Fleet Feet?  Something stupid like that.

Kris temporarily lost track of Alayna, but she's in there if you look carefully - same goes for the previous two pics.

Alayna's in this pink shirt and black shorts, at left.

By the time I showed up to this, after waiting in stop-go traffic for about twenty-five minutes (there's only one, long, narrow drive connecting Stratford Park to Ashman street, and it was totally congested with bottle-necked traffic), Alayna and her friends had already finished running.  So I just sat in traffic for 45 minutes for nothing, more or less.  LOADS of fun.

Alayna and her bedroom.  This was an hour after Kris had instructed her to clean it.  This kid's a straight-up train wreck.

While Yours Truly was out hiking around in the wild, suffering from sore knees and freezing temperatures, Kris took the girls out to Sky Zone in Saginaw, where they met up with some of Kris' friends for a fun Saturday outing.

Abby channels her inner-Tarzan. . .

You guys remember the old '80s show, American Gladiator?  Whatever happened to that shit?  They need to bring that back.

Posing with the dog, showing off some new clothes.

Towards the end of the month, while Alayna and Kris were off at a Girl Scout camping retreat, Abby and I splurged on ourselves ALL weekend long.  We stocked up on snacks, treats, and rations - ice cream, craft beer, candy, chips, cookies, etc. - and even multiple runs out to Tim Horton's for breakfast donuts and hot cocoa.  'Cause that's how dads roll.

We also went Halloween shopping, hitting up Target, Marshall's, and the just-opened Halloween City store in the Midland Mall.  Mostly for decor and party crap, but also for some accessories for this year's family themed-costumes:  Ancient Egyptians.

- Brian

Another Random Girl Scout Thing I Wasn't At

No idea what's happening here.

Hey folks.

So I've gotten pretty good at skipping out on Girl Scout functions over the years.  I'm like a frickin' Black Belt at not being involved in my kids' many, many troop outings, and, to some extent, I'm kinda proud of that.  I suppose that if we had had a couple of boys instead of girls, and they were instead involved in Boy Scouts, the tables would be turned somewhat.  I still don't see myself becoming a troop leader like Kris is, though - I'm not down with the whole 'scout' thing like she is.

Anyway, Kris and Alayna set off this weekend for some random Girl Scout camping trip. . . somewhere. . . in Michigan.  I forget where exactly, I don't know.  I'd assume some place like Harrison, where there's a big-ass Scout Camp, but I could be wrong.  They were gone all weekend, though, leaving Friday evening and getting back Sunday afternoon, and spent two days and nights in a little, wood cabin.

Meanwhile, back in Midland, Abby and I were busy Halloween shopping and gorging ourselves on snacks and treats.  Like a couple of badasses.

So yeah, seeing how Kris never updates this blog anymore, and I wasn't there to know what was happening at all, I'm going to show you a selection of photos and do my damnedest to caption them as accurately as humanly possible.

It's bound to be a shit-show, folks - be forewarned. . .

I think this little kid here is getting lynched.

"Let's grab the smallest kid we can find and shove her through this tire, girls."

Success.

Here's Alayna's BFF, Maddie, climbing up a rope ladder.  Who knows why.

Later, the girls all stood around in front of a cabin and looked at two men.

Some girls put on yellow helmets.  Alayna didn't.

Rock climbing. . . or is it called 'wall climbing'?  I don't know, I don't do either.

Alayna, all ready to start climbing up a wooden wall covered in colorful, plastic thingies.

Preparing to ascend the wall.  Also, here's a bucket with what is either a rope, hose, or a long-ass snake hanging out of it.

Aaaaand there she goes. . .

I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and guess that this is probably the highest point she reached on the wall.

How is this culturally sensitive?  For shame, Girl Scouts.  For shame.

Alayna, Maddie, and some other kid I don't know, sitting around for a snack.

Slainte.

A bunch of girls on a piece of wooden something-or-other.

I guess the wooden something-or-other moves. . . huh.

What's the point of this?

Kris and Alayna, posing with dirt.  'Cause that's what people do.

Two girls and a miniature dinosaur of some kind.

People standing around outside a cabin in the woods.

An assortment of people in kayaks, on some random lake somewhere.  I doubt my kid is among them, but she could be.

The Cannonball scales the wall again.

- Brian