Halloween Warm-Up Weekend, Pt. IV

And now for the thrilling final installment from this, Papa and Nana's Pre-Halloween October Visit.

Behold:

Kris and I were able to pass the kids off to Dad and Cindy for a second night at their hotel.  One of the kids' favorite next-morning activities when staying over at the grandparents' resort is feeding the ducks in the resort ponds. . .

If the ducks knew any better, they wouldn't get so close to these two.

Again - really, really cooperative girls for pictures. . .

Nana brought down some stamping supplies so the kids could have a fun activity to do in the hotel room.

Snuggles the Gender-Confused Bear and Abby engage in some serious stampin'.

Lions and Gadgets and Bears, oh my!

After watching the Detroit Lions seize victory (barely) from the jaws of defeat, we loaded up the kids and drove out to some random church down the road - that we've never once set foot in - to score some free pumpkin patch pictures (we learned last year that these churches gouge consumers over pumpkin prices, so we get our pictures for free and our pumpkins from Publix.  Take THAT, organized religion!)

With four people taking pictures of one, simple, 20-minute outing, you can see how we Houghs could be labeled a bit of an obsessive sort. . .

We got a new telephoto lens for our SLR - Kris put the sum'bitch to good use.

"Please do not sit on the pumpkins."  Whatever, church.

Snuggles as a dairy farmer, apparently sticking his 'hands' in a bowl of cow guts. . .?

Abby claims her prize.

See previous picture - my kids love following the rules.

Portrait time with Dad, Cindy and the grandkids. . .

. . . aaaaand here's the Houghs.  Or as good as you're going to get, with these kids.

Leaving the 'patch after having to argue with a crotchety old lady over paying for pumpkins we weren't buying.  I guess she thought the family of Mexicans we never once spoke with - or even stood remotely close to - were part of our entourage, and we were supposed to pay for the pumpkins.

Back to the van for a last-minute Publix run for pumpkins, supplies, and booze.

Getting to work on the back patio. . .

The Cannonball

Here's a gratuitous shot of my wife's armpit.

Dad tries out a new design for this year's pum-  oh wait, nevermind.

We're not stupid enough to give Abby a knife.  That chick has a hard enough time walking without running into doorknobs.

Alayna offers some friendly criticism.

Nana and Alayna work on one of the random small pumpkins we had lying around the house. . .

Here's Dad offering some really helpful advice.

Some people go ape-shit over pumpkin carving, and I guess if I lived somewhere where they didn't rot 24 hours after carving them, I might, too.  We don't use special tools or templates, either - just steak knives and a vis-a-vis markers.  Oh, and beer.

Watson ate his weight in dropped pumpkin guts this afternoon.  Hopefully that doesn't end up on my carpet later.

Taking another important call.

Against all notions of common sense, Alayna decided to give Papa a pedicure. 

Abby picks out the right color for Papa's gorgeous nails. . .

Each kid got to decorate a foot. . . 

. . . and the results are as could be expected.

Posing with the finished products.

Snuggles and friends.

Abby and her cat pumpkin.

Alayna and her whatever-the-hell-this-is.

Happy Pre-Halloween, America!!!

- Brian

LEGOS!!!

You know, as a dad to two little girls, I've experienced my fair share of horrible, horrible bullshit.

From Disney Princesses to Disney Fairies, shitty TV shows to webisodes on Netflix, Barbies to My Little Ponies, dress-up outfits to sticker books, there isn't a whole lot of awesomeness in my house.  At least not by my standards.  Sure, once in awhile one of the kids will start getting into something that gives me a small glimmer of hope:  Alayna will occasionally ask to watch Star Wars or Indiana Jones, which leaves me with goosebumps, but those moments, alas, are sadly few and far between.

Indiana Jones just can't compete with Rainbow Dash or Barbie.

Lego Ninjago

We got Alayna this for next week's Easter Basket.

Over the course of the last couple of weeks, however, we've noted a change.  Alayna's always been somewhat into boys shows on Netflix.  She was on-and-off obsessed with the Power Rangers series (a few different shows, too) for nearly two years, and will watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles now and again.  This inclination towards boy shows led to her deciding to check out a show in her Netflix account called Lego Ninjago - a computer-animated series based on Lego ninjas.

Basically a show to sell toys.  Right out of the early 1980s marketing playbook.

Give this kid blonde hair and thirty lbs or so, and that was me.

Now, as you all probably know, I love me some Legos.  I grew up with them, I was obsessed with them, and - frankly - if you sat me down in front of a table with covered with Legos today, you could safely walk away with the understanding that'd I'd zone out and be there for several hours.

They're plastic heroin, and I was convinced that having two girls would forever prevent me from sharing this creative outlet with my offspring.

Not anymore.

The infamous Knights Castle set - I still have most of this.

Alayna's new obsession with this random Lego show prompted me to pull out my old sets from the ol' closet and break them out on the back patio table.  It was a huge hit - both kids took to it instantly.  The girls, of course, have Lego sets already - a few sets from Papa and Nana they received a few months back, along with a basic 'girl'-themed starter tub (or whatever the hell that's called) they got a year or two ago.

Neither kid really took to them at first, but now that there are Lego shows on Netflix, they're suddenly infatuated with the toys.

And this dad's not complaining in the slightest.  Not at all.

It sure beats the hell out of playing Barbies with the kids.

F***ing terrible.

Coincidentally, around the same time Alayna started watching Lego Ninjago, Abby started really getting into Lego Friends - a hugely-popular line of Lego sets aimed towards girls aged 6 - 12.  They, too, have a show on Netflix, but sadly there are only three episodes available.

This means that we're forced to watch the same three episodes over and over and over again.  Every Goddamn day.

The set we bought Abby for Easter.

Still, the silver lining here is that Abby has started playing with her Legos as well, and this opens up the door for Yours Truly to start buying Lego sets for birthdays, Christmases, Bar Mitzvahs, what have you.

I'm not sure how long they're going to be into Legos - with young kids, their obsessions are fleeting - but I'm going to ride this one out as long as I possibly can.

FOR GLORY!!!

- Brian