Showing posts with label umbrellas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label umbrellas. Show all posts

Saturday, October 31, 2015

All Hallow's Eve (Now in Michigan Form!)

Seriously?
Well, this Halloween sucked.

Seriously.  What the hell was up with the weather tonight?!  Low-50s and pouring rain?  Thanks a lot, Michigan.

Ghastly weather be damned, our kids were determined to venture forth into the crappiest of weather in order to Trick or Treat.  This was their first Halloween in Michigan, after all, and they weren't about to let a bunch of rain ruin it for them.

They wouldn't have much company out on the streets, though - we had been expecting hordes of trick-or-treaters to assail our house tonight, seeing how family-friendly our neighborhood is, and based on the testimonies of many of our neighbors - but the rain kept most kids at bay, and a result we had about five bags of uneaten candy that had been purchased for trick-or-treaters.

That's going to my school, rest assured - I don't want my kids feasting on that for the next couple of months.

Anyway, here's how Halloween 2015 went down. . .

Alayna inspects some of the candy we had on standby for trick-or-treaters.
How to NOT use an Imperial blaster.
Some Halloween-ish pictures of the inside of our house for you. . .
Enjoying a sucker, wearing Kris' witch hat. . .
Me and Kris' pumpkins out on the front porch, lit and ready to roll for the evening's soggy festivities.
Mom and John swung over about a half hour before Trick or Treating started in order to snag some pics of their grandkids in costume, which went HORRIBLE this year (yet another reason why this year will go down in history as one of the worst ones we've had.)
They were incredibly uncooperative tonight.  Moreso than usual.
(This is probably the best picture we have of the girls all suited up for Halloween this year.  Seriously.)
Showing off her vampire make-up.
Kris and Mom.
Papa John, the Cannonball, and the lone remaining Lions fan in Michigan.
I let Abby use one of my old Star Wars blasters from college to accent her Princess Leia outfit.  She used it for about half the night, then switched it out for an umbrella (can't say I blame her.)
This was the first Halloween we had in a community where most houses give out Halloween candy, so I stayed back to pass out candy while Kris took the girls around the block.  Then, afterwards, she came back to pass out candy and I took the girls around the other side of the street.
Venturing off into the storm. . .
Abby's pumpkin.
(You'll note the absence of trick-or-treaters. . .)
Appreciate this picture of our house decorated for Halloween, Internet - I got soaked taking it for you.
While Kris and the girls got drenched trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, I stayed in and watching the epic Kung Fury and passed out candy (to, like, twenty kids.)
Watson enjoyed barking his ass off every time kids came to our door. . . which got old real fast.
This was pretty decent, as far as pumpkin beers go.  Still can't wait for Stout Season, though.
Kris and the girls returned after about a half an hour, and we switched places.  We had them put on boots before going out again (the leaves were keeping the rain water from draining into yards, so most of the sidewalks were flooded), and I made them carry umbrellas as we set off to hit up the other side of the street.   
After about fifteen minutes, though, Alayna wanted to come home and warm up (and watch some Halloween movies.)  I tried telling her she could go and get more candy, but she looked at me and said, "Daddy, if there aren't a lot of trick-or-treaters going to our house, we have more candy at home than I'll get walking out here in the rain."  Touché, kid.
Examining candy prior to mass-consumption.  No syringes this year.
One of our neighbors was giving out cans of Coca-Cola, which, when placed in fancy wine glasses, increases in tastiness.  That's science, people.
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.
Plunder
Watson bides his time. . .
Happy Halloween. . . I guess.
- Brian

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Summerhood

Hi again, fans.

As the soggy month of July grinds to a halt, here's some more visuals from the Houghs' last couple weeks.

Bam!

Playing in the rain - swapping out swords for umbrellas this time around.

Getting them to put up the Disney Princess umbrellas can be a pain in the ass. . . not surprisingly.
The Cannonball
Abby shows off her Ariel umbrella
Rockin' Hello Kitty boots (those Japanese were on to something. . .)
So the pool - on its third summer of heavy use - finally sprung a leak.  Well, technically it's the same leak from last summer, but, seeing how it's late July and all - and I'll be heading back to school next week for class prep, etc. - we decided to drain the sum'bitch. . .
The kids are going to have about a week of bathtub-level water to splash around in before we put the thing to the curb (the pool itself is only $90 - it's all the accessories that get ya - so we can just buy another one next summer)
Two Power Rangers, armed with Fire Smashers, engage battle with the sinister Mom Monster. . .
The Hough gals suit up for taking their PowerWheel out on the town er, subdivision.
Abby got to go first, but didn't bother to stop to let Alayna jump on.  She also had a tendency of going off-road, and kicked the gas pedal instead of holding it down.  Basically, it took her about five minutes to drive the length of the sidewalk in front of our house.
. . . so we let Alayna take a crack at it.  Turns out she's a pretty good driver.
Hell on wheels.
Rollin' through Ginger Mill
Getting them tooths clean.
Another big fan of Dad's camera obsession. . .
Drawing Power Ranger 'symbols' (some magical crap from the show, I don't know) with bath crayons.  In the show, the symbols are Japanese. . . and I'm not well-versed in Japanese, so I don't know if these are 100% accurate or not.
This'll teach those frickin' kids to stand up in the bathtub. . .
Another stormy sunset over Central Florida. . .
Hawks have really, really taken a shine to our house.  There were four along the fence (two flew away by the time I came back with a camera.)
. . . the swords come out. 
Fighting bad guys in the rain
Dancing around the front of the house, as yet another massive storm comes barreling down on us. . .

Abby utilizes the Virgin Mary's old 'stage.'
Alayna's turn.

Kris shows Abby how to doll herself up. . .
Abby helps Kris out with her eyes. . .
. . . then does her own.
And of course, a three-year-old has to have lipstick.
- Brian