Randoms of October

Samson desperately wants in on some front porch action. . .

 What's up, gang.

October is officially over and done with. . . well, sort of.  At least up to our annual Halloween Party and Trick or Treating the following day, but we can save those for separate blog entries coming up next (stay tuned.)  

This was an abnormally warm October, which shouldn't come as that big of a surprise considering the ice caps are melting and we're slowly but surely setting the planet on fire (thanks, Republicans.)  It didn't really start feeling like 'fall' until about half-way through the month, and even then it was very mild.  This meant the leaves didn't fall in the piles that they did last year around this time, but we did get a little bit of a dump from my from trees (whatever those are, I'm not a treeologist.)  I'm really looking forward to doing the bulk of my raking next month when it's, like, thirty degrees colder outside.

Feasting on dead animals over at the Bos residence.

Anyways, this month played out like any other school month, really - we had some extra-curricular events to attend for the girls (orchestra concerts, pom performances at Northeast Football games, etc.), church events, multiple engagements with the friend group on weekends, and, of course, the apex of the month - our annual costume party and Halloween itself.

So here you go, folks - October '21, Hough-style.

The first weekend of the month, Kris and the wives all went out to some Mexican restaurant for a girls night out. . . leaving us dads to watch all the kids.  Not sure how we drew the short straw on that one.

Some of us dads decided to gather together at Mitch's house in protest, kids in tow.  Ryan, Omkar, Mitch and I hung out on the back patio while the kids all played inside, and we feasted on multiple meats that Mitch had been smoking all day.  The following morning, Yours Truly would wake up reeling from Covid symptoms.

Later that same evening, the girls headed over to the 702 Bar, downtown, for some drinks and dancing.

After a year or so of abstaining from buying vinyl - due to the vinyl factory fire in Japan, and shipping backups/delays on account of the pandemic and subsequent supply-chain headaches, the cost and availability of vinyl has been atrocious - I've been purchasing quite a bit this month.  After selling a stack of used vinyl I no longer wanted, I was able to pick up these six, new LPs for basically free.

One Saturday morning, while I was sick at home breaking out Halloween decor, Kris took Abby and met up with her friend, Kim, to shop around town with her daughter, Makayla.  At some point they must've stopped off at an A & W for root beer floats and what-not.

Makayla and Abby

The kids and. . . some fountain. . . somewhere.

When you're sick as a dog with Covid, this is the kind of thing that's just as good for the body and soul as chicken soup and Vernor's. . .

Hanging out in the hammock in the backyard.

Kris took the girls out to Midland City Forest one afternoon in order to break up the monotony of their quarantine (despite the fact that they themselves weren't sick, they still couldn't go to school while I was positive with Covid.)

Once I was on the mend, but we were all still stuck at home, I took the girls through the drive-thru at Starbucks to treat them with some 2,000-calorie, sugar-bomb frappuccinos.

Two of our trees in our front yard always dump their loads a couple weeks before the large maples do, which helps in the rake-up process because I don't have to deal with so much all at once.

Say what you will about the warm weather, we've got ourselves some pretty awesome tree colors this year.

The girls' school pictures this year.  Alayna, 8th grade, and Abby, 6th grade.

Nice to see my go-to, cheap chardonnay is feeling extra-patriotic these days.  'Merica.

We accompanied the Johnsons out to some haunted forest walk one Friday after work.  Some elderly couple single-handedly created this huge Halloween display on their property - they dropped some serious money on it.

Alayna, Ella, and Abby. . . along with a couple creepy-ass friends.

Ella and Abby rode their bikes down to Grove Tea to treat themselves with some snacks and sugary bullshit one Saturday afternoon.  It's their favorite go-to joint for such nonsense.

Erik later took both girls along with him on a shopping run to our local Costco.  We ended up buying a membership there this month - it's well worth the amount you end up saving on the stuff they have there.  We're huge converts.

The girls are huge fans of the free samples. . .

Later that weekend, Kris took the girls up to Grandma's Pumpkin Patch so Alayna could meet up with a few of her friends who were going to be there.  We haven't gone in a few years, so Kris felt it was time to check it out once again.

Petting. . . donkeys?

All aboard the cow train.

(I think this counts as a hay ride.)

Alayna and her squad.  And Abby.

So this random cat has been hanging out around our house the last couple weeks, and Kris was finally able to capture it on camera.  No idea where it came from, but it definitely doesn't look like a stray - it's frickin' huge, and it looks somewhat groomed.  No idea why it's chosen our house as it's new hang-out spot. . .

Abby, Ella, and the Northeast Pom Squad perform at Jefferson Middle School one Thursday. . .

A week or so later, I spotted our cat friend hanging out on our front porch again. . .

I might leave some rat poison out for it, we'll see.  Not sure what cats eat.

Another weekend evening, another night out with the Real Housewives of Midland.

The following night, us dads finally got a turn.  We headed out to Chet's Corner Bar in scenic Bay City to play some shuffleboard and Brad, who can't help himself, belted out a few Karaoke tunes. 

Mitch, Brad and Erik

Tom and Ryan

I was no good at Shuffleboard, folks.

I came in to my classroom one morning and our building custodian left this note on my desk.  Frickin' awesome. . .

Abby accompanied the Larson family downstate for Sophie's volleyball tournament one weekend.  

They ended up going to Dave & Buster's one evening after the game and Abby managed to win this giant avocado in a claw machine, which, as you know, is next to impossible.

One of my favorite Friday-after-work routines.  This pumpkin beer might be my all-time favorite - the habenero in it makes it incredibly spicy, I love it.

A couple vampires, getting ready for a Halloween costume party sponsored by the Community Center's After School program, The Rock.

. . . aaaaand a cat.

- Brian