Halloween

Ohio is weird. Trick-or-treating does not occur on Halloween. They have something called "Beggar's Night," and it is not always on Halloween. For example, this year, Beggar's Night was on October 30th. I think they do this for safety reasons, and also they don't want trick-or-treating to interfere with other events (e.g. Beggar's Night will NEVER be on a Friday night because it would coincide with high school football games).

This year, Beggar's Night bit us on the rump. Oh, we were prepared to go trick-or-treating. But Beggar's Night was scheduled for Saturday, 6 - 8 pm. The Auburn vs. Ole Miss kickoff? 6:00 pm. And while Ashley is a huge fan (she admittedly has problems), she isn't such a huge fan as to cancel trick-or-treating with her soon-to-be 3-year old only child so she can watch a football game (although the decision wasn't a no-brainer :-). We decided that I would stay home and watch the game, I mean hand out treats to the kids that came to our door, and provide text message updates about the game (more on that later).

Bode wanted to be a troll for Halloween. There's a story they read at daycare about a troll under the bridge. Bode loves this story and has said he wanted to be a troll for the past month. There aren't many scary troll costumes for a toddler, but we found something close. The costume was for a garden gnome which is sort of a troll (you have to use your imagination). Anyways, Bode loved the costume, and that is all that mattered. Here are some shots. First, the little troll and me. Notice I'm in my Auburn gear.

Next, here's Ashley and Bode. While it's hard to tell, Ashley is dressed as Robin, the Boy (Girl) Wonder. She had to make some small adjustments to the costume. The skirt was a bit short, and the top was low-cut, and the designers probably had late teen-age girl in mind. But she still looked cute and quite appropriate for our neighborhood.

Bode loved getting the candy, and that is all he wants to eat--even for breakfast. Fortunately, he seems to understand candy is an after dinner treat.

The mighty Auburn Tigers are 9-0!!! They have what should be an easy game this week (Tennessee Chattanooga or some high school-like team). Then, their last two games are against their big rivals: Georgia and the dreaded Iron Bowl at Alabama. Should make for a fun November.

Pleasant week to all.

Fall

It's a beautiful fall day. The leaves are really coming down, and the colors and very nice. Here's a shot of our front yard--I really like the red in the tree across the street.

Note the goofy looking scarecrow. That's an original woodwork by Jeffy. Maybe I should start selling them. Below is a better shot of the scarecrow (let's call him Bob for no reason other than I'm not very creative; Scarecrow Bob). You can also see Ashley hard at work trimming some bushes while Bode is standing on our front porch.

We raked a bunch of leaves. The picture below is about half of them. The other half are further up the street and out of the camera's view.

What's a fall Sunday without an Auburn football reference? As you (hopefully) know, the Mighty Auburn Tigers beat LSU yesterday and are now 8-0!!! Ashley is elated, but also very nervous. It's funny--she's a bit superstitious and really believes if I talk too much about how good they are, I will jinx them. I could see Bode believing something like that...but Ashley? She's almost 40, err, in her 30's :-) Auburn's QB is a legitimate Heisman candidate. I tried to get Bode to strike a pose, but this is the best he could do...

As usual, Bode wanted to take some pictures. Here's a slanted shot of me. You can also see our obnoxious Auburn flag proudly flying on our house.

Auburn is predicted to be #1 in the BCS rankings, which historically is not a good position. They have a tough road game Saturday at Ole Miss. Game time is 6:00 pm on ESPN2. Pleasant week to all.

Trucks and Spiders

Lots has been going on. End of preamble.

Bode-man is growing like the Auburn band-wagon. He's over three feet tall, rides his little tricycle like a rough-rider, and speaks eloquently (for a two-year old). Here's a shot of Bode and Auburn. Look at the length on the little guy.

He's quite the little photog. He took the following picture of Auburn and me lying on the floor.

He's also getting heavy. Here's Bode and me trying to play airplane. His glide-time isn't nearly what it used-to-be, a combination of him getting heavier and Daddy getting weaker.

He's really into his toy trucks. He likes the dump-truck, the bull-dozer, but his favorite is the excavator (and he even calls it that...like I said, he's quite eloquent).

Sometimes Bode needs a smooth surface on which to run the trucks. Daddy's back seems to do the trick.

And other times, the carpet works just fine

Can you believe the mighty Auburn Tigers are 7-0??? They play LSU tomorrow. Ashley is already nervous. Hopefully big Cam Newton can pull off another amazing display and get a W for the team. Incidentally, Bode has learned most of his A-B-C's. However, he thinks "W" is "Spider." It's funny to here him identify letters. If the word "brown" is on the page, he'll spell it. "B and R and O and Spider and N." Very cute.

War eagle to all and to all a pleasant weekend.

Applefest and Wareagle

Nana and Papa came to visit. They arrived Friday night, just in time for all of us to hit the MCL cafeteria. We needed to fuel up for the big weekend.

Saturday was Ashley and my 11th anniversary. Since the Auburn game was that night, we certainly weren't going to go out for dinner and a movie. Nana and Papa offered to watch Bode while Ashley and I went out for a nice lunch. Granted, this probably doesn't go down in history as one of the greatest anniversary outings of all time, but we did enjoy some alone time together. We made it back with plenty of time to spare before the kickoff. Here are Ashley and Bode all geared up and ready to go.

The game was a back-and-forth contest. Auburn went up early, fell behind, came back, fell behind again, and eventually won it. Eleven years ago, Auburn played a similar type game against Mississippi, but lost in overtime. This didn't ruin the wedding day, but it probably wasn't the best omen :-) Fortunately, things have worked out, and now Auburn knows they have to win on every September 25th of the 21st century.

On Sunday, the five of us went to the Apple Festival. This wasn't a huge event--small and rather quaint (which is becoming an overused word--everything nowadays is quaint, meaning the word quaint is no longer quaint...but I digress). There were tractors, animals, painting stations, tire-sandboxes, and food. Below are some photos. First, here are Ashley, Papa, and Bode sitting on a tire. The weather was fallish, meaning Ashley is starting to box up her shorts.

Bode enjoyed the face-painting station, although he didn't want to paint on himself. He liked to paint on the mirror, and he enjoyed watching other kids get their faces painted. However, he wanted nothing to do with paint on his skin.

Bode liked the Billy-goat, but he (the goat) wasn't very friendly. We had to keep our distance.

The alpacas were less apt to bite.

There were some tractors for the kids to sit on...

one huge combine...

and some carts that were for staff transportation. Bode probably liked these best, so he spent a lot of time climbing up on the golf carts.

There was also some pretty scenery--herb gardens and flowers and the country landscape.

Here's a cute one of Bode...not sure what he was saying or doing but you can tell he's been eating...the messy face is a dead-giveaway.

Finally, here's a shot of me and little guy in the sandbox.

We headed home after lunch, watched some football, and chased the little dude around the house. Nana and Papa headed home on Monday morning. We had a wonderful visit.

Pleasant week to all, for those of you that know what I'm doing on Wednesday (tomorrow), I'll simply say right now I'm starving :-)

What Happens in Starkville...

On Wednesday, we headed south for the biennial Auburn-at-Mississippi State SEC matchup. We've been going to this game since 1998, and missed only once. In 2008, we weren't quite ready to travel distances with the Little Man, but now, Bode has proven to be a very capable traveler so we shouldn't miss another game. Ever (unless Jon and Meghan move).

The game was Thursday night, televised nationally on ESPN. Ashley awoke early, the butterflies already racing in her stomach. She had to figure out something to do to pass the time. Fortunately, Jon and Meghan have a zip line in their back yard. Here's a movie of Bode going for a ride.

The game started at 6:30 pm. We debated whether to bring Bode to the game--you're never too young for your first Auburn experience. However, we worried he would get sleepy, and neither one of us wanted to have to leave early. Jon and Meghan arranged a sitter for Bode and their two boys, Elliot and Oscar. Here's a photo of them sitting around the dinner table as we were leaving.

Jon and Meghan live about 1/2 a mile from the stadium, so we walked. A pregame collegiate football atmosphere is always electric. We soaked in the experience and found time for a quick photograph of Ashley and Meghan. Note Ashley in her obnoxious Auburn t-shirt :-)

We made it into the stadium, and paused for a couple more photos. First, Jon and Ashley.

Then, I grabbed a quick photo with Ashley in case she wasn't smiling later in the game...

The game was back-and-forth. Auburn went up 7-0 on their first possession, but Mississippi State scored after a costly Auburn fumble. Auburn was leading 17-7 at halftime, but the Dawgs cut the lead to 17-14 early in the 3rd quarter. Auburn was still leading by three late in the fourth. Mississippi State had the ball and they were driving. Ashley was very nervous.

Fortunately, MSU couldn't capitalize, and Auburn prevailed, 17-14. Wareagle!!!

We had a great visit with Jon, Meghan, and the boys. Hopefully we can convince them to come to Dayton. If only Nebraska would play Ohio State--and they do, now that they are in the Big 10. Let's just hope they don't play the same weekend in 2012 as Auburn-vs-Mississippi State. If so, maybe we'll just swap houses :-) Pleasant week to all.

Dave Rankin, Safety Expert

We shot the following video of Bode riding one of the tricycles while at Young's Dairy. Bode doesn't do anything special in the video. However, pay close attention to Dave and Charlie.

Looks like Dave won't be winning any "Father of the Year" awards anytime soon :-). Pleasant week to all.

Orchardly Park

Sunday morning, we went to Orchardly Park. This is a little neighborhood park with slides, swings, sand, and other apparatuses upon which kids can play (injure themselves). As soon as we got there, the kids were off and running.

Before we got there, Teddy says, "I don't want to do any spinny rides." So what's the first thing he does? He climbs on a dizzy-making machine and proceeds to laugh and proclaim how much fun it is.

There was a large sand pit, which Bode and Charlie enjoyed (Charlie is at Bode's two-o'clock in the photo).

Here's a neat shot of Bode playing peekaboo.

The weather was slightly cooler than expected, so the boys were not all that excited about playing in the fountain. However, Teddy eventually braved the elements and got a little wet. Bode opted to stay dry.

These trips to the parks are (sobering) reminders that Bode is getting bigger and growing up. A few months ago, Bode was unable to handle the chain bridge. Now, he was flying across it.

Finally, here are Dave and Charlie relaxing up on their perch. You can also see Bode zooming down the slide.

The Rankin clan left late Sunday afternoon, and had a much better trip back to Denver. We thoroughly enjoyed their visit. Bode is now bored because he has no one to play with. Perhaps we'll take him to visit Simon (4) and Estelle (2.5), new neighbors across the street.

Pleasant week to all.