Halloween.

As faithrul readers may remember, Connor was born on Reformation Day, which those of you Too Involved In Secular Society may know as 'Halloween'. Well, we won't get into the history of Reformation Day here (or this 'Halloween' night, for that matter), but Connor had a lot of fun, and even had two of his grandparents in town (my folks). He was thrilled to have my Dad pull him around in his Red Ryder wagon, although he only made it to about six houses or so before he was done. The best was the first house, where, apparently in classic "new trick-or-treater" style, he walked right into the house like an invited guest. Good stuff, and I have some of it on video even.

Connor's Birthday, Part I

My brother and Kristi took Connor to John Ball Park Zoo for the start of his second birthday. I think I was working and Jodi was too, so it was great that he got to spend the day with his aunt and uncle, and see the animals (including the monkeys, which were right up his alley since he's a monkey at heart). This was the start to a great day and weekend for the little man. He loves his 'unca maark' and 'ant kis-tee'. Fo'shizzle.

Family Wedding.

Since Jodi and I dress up maybe once a year, or for weddings and funerals (whichever comes first), I thought I'd throw this one up there. This was for Jodi's step-brother ("hey, the only 'steps' are right here going upstairs"--what's that from??) Frank's wedding. A good time was had by all. Side note: I shot a ton of video for them, but apparently this is the only photo.

Dinner With the DuthlerDekkers.

Hey, I just like the alliteration there with all the 'D's, so it's not some silly attempt to keep the maiden names out there, like I may or may not have done in the past. Besides, Sara would never bother to go "online" and "check out my blog". (Not for a lack of interest in the goings-on of the Bast family, the ones in Ada I mean.)

Connor and his BFF Max had lots of fun, and Anne was shamelessly hitting on C-man as is her wont (that's not a typo; look it up). Another great deal was that Jeff had time to finally hook up my receiver (long story) so now we have music again on all the levels and outdoors.

Nono and Cheebo.

That's Italian for Grandpa and Grandson, to hear my Dad tell it. Just two more quick shots from Saturday afternoon. There's nothing like a nice stick in the eye!! Err, no, a stick in the eye is bad, right?? Is it 'bunk'? Or 'debunked'?? These are the Big Questions, folks. Not all this political stuff you've been hearing about.

More Indy.

After the park (playground, really), we went west and then north to a big Pumkin Festival north of Zionsville. Let's just say, "It was a scene, man!" There were pumkins at this place, and then I will say again... There Were Pumkins, At This Place. There were also hay rides, a corn maze (or maize -- homonyme / pun style??), a mini-zoo, music, food, pony rides, etc. The thing was, it got to be 86 degrees and no clouds, nothing but sun! So it was hot. Like, crazy hot. Good times though. Oh, and I found out that Indy is known for something called the "tenderloin". That name may imply some kind of beef, right? Nope. It's a pork tenderloin, deep fried, and served as a sandwich. It's pretty great, I must say.

Indy (Part III, I think).

We went down to Indianapolis for another visit, and it was pretty great. The weather was so perfect it was really unusual--it was too hot, of all things. Saturday was a big day, to say the least. We started early, and somehow all managed to fit in my car. We went to an incredible public park first, so I'll start with those photos.

Homecoming.

Homecoming seemed to fall a week early this year; I have no clue why. But it was the first weekend in October, and it was the 10 year reunion for some of my buddies. I had a hall pass for the weekend, as Jodi didn't see much point in coming out since I was going out with Hope people at night and she would have to be home with Connor anyway. At any rate, other than an injury to my hand late Friday night, we had a pretty incredible weekend.