Autumn in Grand Rapids = summer days and giant pumpkins

Hello.

Today was a gorgeous day, temperature in the 70s, not a cloud in the sky... just what you would expect for fall. I guess someone didn't see their shadow.

The ladies and I went to Meijer Garden this morning and had a lovely picnic lunch and then walked to their Replica Farmhouse exhibit to see the giant pumpkins that had been set out. There isn't that much to tell (I can hear the collective "whew," I know you only come for the pictures). Basically we posed Lyla next to pumpkins that were almost the same size as her and watched with enjoyment to see her reactions. We ended up getting a bunch of great photos in the process. Here you go:

Chuck E. Cheese

So far Katherine and I have been able to protect ourselves from the huge marketing machine that seeks to devour children's souls. Our exposure has been limited thanks to the fact that our healthcare provider promotes breastfeeding (protecting us from the onslaught of offers from formula companies) and because we do most of our shopping through resale channels (Craigslist, Once Upon a Child, Mom-to-Mom sales, etc). So far, all we've really had to endure was the professionally trained fear-mongers at Babies R Us ("if you don't purchase the most expensive crib mattress, it may accidentally fold in half and crush your innocent child while he/she sleeps."... they're good.)

Well, about two weeks ago we were invited to the birthday party of our friends' daughter. And that birthday party took place at Chuck E. Cheese's ("where a kid can be a kid"). Most of you will remember Chuck E. Cheese's as Showbiz Pizza, which used to be operated by Billy Bob Bear (lead singer and guitarist for Rock-afire Explosion) until it was takeover in a leveraged buyout in the late 80's by a group of investors which included Berkshire Hathaway, KKR, and Chuck E. Cheese (who I've heard comes from a wealthy family that made its fortune speculating after the Civil War).

I hadn't been to one of these places in somewhere between 20 and 25 years and was a little overwhelmed once we arrived. I think Katherine summed it up best by observing, "this is just a sports bar for children." The place was full of games and rides and things to climb on and tv screens and flashing lights and ringing bells and people dressed in animal costumes... it was total sensory overload (which is why Lyla woke up crying three time that night). Anyway, once we were able to get oriented we ended up having a lot of fun, playing games, eating pizza, talking, etc. etc. A lot of my friends were there too: Ellie, Justin, Josh, Abbie, Megan, Biscuit, Lady Biscuit, The King of the Mammals, Duracell (aka Spinner), Theresa, Julie, uh, other people.

Overall, it was a lot of fun but a little too much stimulation (see photo above and on left). I ended up winning about 100 tickets which I gave to Ellie. Lyla made it through the whole night without melting down but she was definitely overwhelmed by all that was going on. The best, er, worst part was when Chuck E. Cheese himself came up to Lyla while I was holding her and she started to cry. Stupid mouse, scaring little kids. The nerve!

And you thought 5 year olds were tough!

I could survive for 1 minute, 19 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

Uncle Ben stops by on his way to Beantown

Mmmmm.... rice and beans.... er, not that Uncle Ben. Ben, Ben our friend from San Diego whom we met at Kaleo. Ben recently left San Diego to move back to Boston with his lovely wife Lisa. Ben has family that lives in Grand Rapids and so made lovely GR part of his trip across the country. Though the visit was brief, it was great to spend time with him, to have him meet Lyla (who he had only known when she was Button, who coyishly hid behind Katherine's uteran wall). We really enjoyed hearing about his wedding and adventures in San Diego and their plans for the future. I'm sure we shared some information with him as well... it wasn't just one sided. Anyway, here are pictures from the visit. One thing to note was that Lyla was not afraid of Ben despite the massive and awesome spectical of his beard. I don't know if she's over her shy phase of if I've conditioned her to be comforted in the presence of awesome beards.

Tricks

We're thinking about taking this show on the road: