ERIC AND BRUCE

One man pays tribute to his late son.

 

Another man pays tribute to his elderly sister.

 

 

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ALEXIA TURNS THREE

Grandchild number eleven out of twelve turns three-years-old this week and we celebrated her birthday today with a party at her house. 

 

Alexia was joined by fifteen friends and relatives who visited, ate ice cream, ate cake, watched her open a bunch of gifts and watched her blow out three candles.

 

Alexia was preoccupied with bubble wrap while Josie, Makiah, Baylee, Rylie and Miranda enjoy her party.

Ruth and Tom came to party.  Gordon and Josie hosted the party.

Alexia shares her bubble wrap with Becky, while Skeeter is left without any bubble wrap.

Showing off acquired skills.

Tom, functioning as a photographer, shows Alexia some of his work while Gordon, an anorexia survivor, watches.

"Yeah.  Whatever."

Makiah speaks to Debra.

Alexia starts hauling her gifts from beside the wall behind Skeeter to the middle of the living room.

Alexia opens cards and gifts.

Alexia hauls another load.

Alexia opens a box of dress-up clothes.

Alexia hauls another load.

It is unknown what topic of conversation could produce such facial expressions from Skeeter, Becky, Ashley and Debra.

Big sisters.

Three lighted candles. 

Getting ready to blow out three lighted candles.

Blowing out three lighted candles.

THE MONSTER DASH

This morning, Debra and I drove to Lithia Park in Ashland to support Ashley, who was running in the 10K Monster Dash, a fund raising event for Ashland schools.

 

Ashley has been training with her cousin-by-marriage, Ashley (different person, different last name), who also ran in the event.

 

Ashley had estimated that it would take her about an hour-and-a-half to complete the course, so Debra and I meandered over to Starbucks, a few blocks away, to enjoy some overpriced coffee drinks while we waited for the race to end. 

 

Then we wandered back to the finish line only to discover that Ashley had already crossed the line just minutes before we arrived.  She has exceeded her expectations and finished the race in only 1:01:58, averaging just under 10 minutes per mile for the six-plus mile run.



 

 

Ashley and Ashley minutes before the race began.

Debra shoots.

Get on your mark...

Get set...

GO!

And keep on going.  I tried to find Ashley in the crowd, but I failed.

And away they go.

Debra and I rested our tired feet for a moment after the race began.  Then we headed for Starbucks while Ashley was busy putting ten kilometers behind her.

We were too late to see Ashley finish the race.

But we got there just in time to see cousin Ashley cross the finish line.

PUMPKIN PATCH TRIP NUMBER TEN



Every October since 2003, with one exception in 2005, I have taken the Weathersby kids to a pumpkin patch.  That first outing included only two of us:  One-year-and-four-month-old Silas and me. 

 

Today included seven of us.

 

I arrived at the Weathersby home yesterday and was greeted by Tyler.

 

Tyler, who has a great right arm, was quick to recruit me to play catch.

Naomi wasted no time in proudly showing off her very first, very own library card.

All four grandkids wanted to share a YouTube viral video hit with me, What Does The Fox Say?

At about 10:00 a.m. this morning, the seven of us arrived at Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm to enjoy their pumpkin patch activities.

Silas and Devon crawl on and through a tunnel.

Devon checks the fit on some wooden shoes.

Father and daughter on a sunny October morning.

One of the staff helpers assists Naomi in shooting an air gun while Silas and Devon, shown in the background, try their skills at bb gun shooting.

Pure concentration.

Devon tries out his archery skills.

If you're in a shooting competition, and if you're Tim, and if you want to defeat an opponent named Devon, then you use a strategy that involves laughing out loud at your opponent while he is taking aim.

Devon lost the shooting competition, but there were rumors of cheating on the other side.

Naomi, whose evolutionary roots may be traced back to spiders, spent a good chunk of the day on the spider web.

The three scarecrows are (from left to right) Mitt Romney, Tyler, and Alfred E. Newman.

That's a chicken in there.

Tractors sometimes swing.

Something about this particular tractor appealed to Naomi.

Meandering through the corn maze.

Eventually, it was time to go home.

This annual tradition began ten years ago, on October 8, 2003.