PAINTING THE HOUSE (Part 3 of a Trilogy)

The Painting The House trilogy is now complete.

 

Part 1 was released back in June and celebrated my little brother's birthday.

 

Part 2 arrived five days later and celebrated my awesome wife's birthday.

 

Today we focus on Part 3 and give all the attention to my big sister, Judy. 

 

 

Cheap cameras, like the one I use, distort facial shapes when faces get too close to the lens like, for example, when I paint the house while thinking about my big sister on her birthday.

Applying paint with a roller while thinking about my big sister on her birthday.

Applying paint with a brush while thinking about my big sister on her birthday.

Sometimes when I'm painting the house while thinking about my big sister on her birthday, it's important to take a coffee break.

Sometimes when I'm painting the house while thinking about my big sister on her birthday, it's important to take a guitar break.

Sometimes when my big sister gets annoyed with me, she likes to put me in a headlock.

Happy Birthday, Judy!

Here's your video:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwSI53zpNZM

One last thing.  I probably owe an apology to this guy.

WOODEN SHOE PUMPKIN FEST

Today we spent between three and four hours at the Wooden Shoe Pumpkin Fest.  This is the eleventh annual pumpkin patch trip we have made in the past twelve years.  The weather forecast had called for sunny skies and a high of 72.

 

When we arrived at about 10:30 this morning, it was raining.  The rain quickly subsided and by the time we left we had sunny skies and the temperature was 71.  Pretty near perfect.

 



 

Upon arrival we were greeted by a straw pumpkin and some guy on a tractor and some mild precipitation.

 

 

As usual, seven of us made the trip.  Actually, the tradition started out with only two of us twelve years ago, but the event has grown since then.

Devon, Naomi, Tyler and Silas stand atop a haystack.

Apparently the pumpkin patch owners knew we were coming and personally prepared customized cow carts for the parents of the younger four.

Silas watches a pumpkin cannon which, in this case, launched a pumpkin to a distance of 400 yards.  The pumpkin, before splatting all over the place, can be seen here in flight.

Devon scopes out the possibilities from an elevated perch.

Naomi struggles to keep her balance in a giant spider web.

Tyler rides a swinging cow with a little help from his dad.

Naomi and Silas take their seats on the trip to the corn maze.

Devon and Silas prepare for the corn maze by studying the corn maze map.

Before entering the corn maze, both Naomi and Tim try their skill at shooting paint balls at fake humans sitting on bales of hay.

We split into two teams before entering the maze.  If this had been an Olympic event, my team would have taken home the silver.

Devon, Naomi and Tyler race rubber ducks down gutters by propelling them with the force of hand pumped water.

Bethany and Silas throw bean bags into holes in wooden targets.  Incredibly, not even one beanbag
made it into a hole.

Devon ground wheat into flour at one of the many booths available at the event.

Naomi ropes a steer.

Tyler forces a smile for a photo.

Archery wars among brothers.

Before we left for the day, Silas wanted to spend his final seven seconds showing me a back flip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhrylsQrvig

TUXEDO JUNCTION

I arrived in Woodburn yesterday for my annual pumpkin patch trip with 33.3% of the grandchild population.  This morning, after everyone woke up and ate breakfast, Silas played Glenn Miller's classic, "Tuxedo Junction", on the piano.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tHYmlD2kTE

Shortly after Silas' performance, we all headed to the pumpkin patch and corn maze for over three hours of outdoor fun.