On October 23rd, Mommy took the kids to the mall to look for birthday presents for Daddy’s upcoming 40th, and there turned out to be some fun to be had as well!!! Here I imagine Nina pretending to be a used car salesperson. *You like this beauty? (conk conk) yeah she’s built solid alright. A real gem. 20 grand.* See this image larger.

As I was not there I can only assume that this means “This machine takes 2 quarters” or “I need two beers to go with my hot dogs.” See this image larger.

And this one is either “I don’t want to ride in Clifford the big red dog, I want to ride in the airplane,” or “Nina is touching my Clifford.” Nina might be saying *You like this beauty? (conk conk) yeah he’s build solid alright. A good dog. 30 grand.* See this image larger.

And this is the only other thing I know about the trip. A small airplane was purchased, and a hamburger was hastily consumed. Ian eating a store-bought hamburger is pretty rare… See this image larger.

From my notes:

We were waiting in the parking lot of the bank, Ian, Nina and I…
Ian – Whars mommy buying in the bank?
Me – Shes getting money
Ian – It says money up there. See? Mon eee.
Me – Lol that actually says something else. “Western Union.”
Ian – uh nnn ehh ah nnn.
Me – GOOD BOY!!! (You may not understand that, but that’s him using phonetics to sound out the word “Union.” It means he’s one step closer to reading.)

I told Ian he was being a backseat driver at one point.
He then recounted a story Grampa Dave told us about weeks earlier wherein the differing size of his trucks had led him to be a literal backseat driver for a few moments.

Ian – Shew! I ran out of breathing.

On October 24th Ian had some friends over to play including Scott and Elena’s daughter Rowen. Casey came over too from down the street! See this image larger.

I think they wore him out a little. See this image larger.

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BONUS AUDIO!!! — On October 25th, I interviewed Ian for about 8 minutes, and am posting it here. It is actually pretty hilarious. Example: “What is your favorite football team?” “Daddy and Nina are my favorite football team, kicking balls.” You should be able to listen to it by clicking here.
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October 26th, Ian had been asking for a demonstration of this device for days… an apple peeler! Mommy actually let him use it and he had a blast! Nina practiced her management skills. See this image larger.

See how quick? Boom, naked apple. See this image larger.

October 27th, Halloween was closing in fast, how fast? Fast enough that the kids at daycare gave each other some important Halloween tips. I think my 2nd favorite is “Don’t hold your basket upside down,” but my favorite is Ian’s “Stay with mom and dad.” Good boy! See this image larger.

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BONUS VIDEO!! — On October 27th, I started having a bit of a mid-life crisis, I guess. I was on my way home from a meeting and passing by daycare. I picked up Ian early and went to the park with him. (Jean, if you’re reading this, I made up for the hours later… it is only sunny enough to play during the day, turns out 😉 ) Click here to watch a video from that fun, windy day! (This might also have been the windy night that subsequently destroyed our roof.)
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I got some picture off of Melissa’s camera, and I shuffled those into earlier entries if need be. The first few pictures happened back on October 2nd, all of us enjoyed a nice lunch out with Mr. Brandon and Max. Click here to read that entry. These others were from a day out on October 12th with Mommy took the kids to the park. Click here to see the entry I added pictures to.

On October 17th, we got a visit from Grampa Dave and Gramma Marcia! You’ll never guess what Grampa Dave was making here! See this image larger.

A space helmet! The awesome home-made kind! See this image larger.

Gah, another auto-focus blunder. I probably need to have the sensor cleaned on this camera, or… muhuhahhaaa…. (more on this later…) See this image larger.

There we go!!! Ian the astronaut! See this image larger.

Ian the astronaut gives big kisses! See this image larger.

Nina gives a little wink! See this image larger.

An awesome visit, thank you both so much! (Nice pic too! Hurray for smiles all around!) Daddy premiered his attempt at cooking breakfast, and Gramma Marcia made an awesome dinner! See this image larger.

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BONUS AUDIO!!! – Click here to listen to Ian singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow in Daddy’s car!
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BONUS VIDEO!!! – Here’s another video from the 11th, in this one Ian uses the Wii video game console to fly an airplane, only he seems to like crashing it a bit more! Click here to see the video, it is great!
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Still October 11th, Ian plays with Daddy’s iPad on the front porch in his rocking chair. I must have been feeling brave.

NOTE – These three images have been added to this entry.

October 12th, Mommy took these cute little kids to the park! See this image larger.

What a sunshine-filled smile! See this image larger.

Weee! See this image larger.

Later, Ian makes his own “gardens” out of blocks. I was told to sit in the larger area. See this image larger.

October 13th, far from Halloween, but it was time to put the first two parts of his Buzz Lightyear costume to the test. Part I, a free base costume from his cousin Connor — thanks Connor! Part II the inflatable wings from Amazon.com for about 10 bucks! You’ll see the rest when we get closer to Halloween! See this image larger.

I went an opening for an art show of one of my former professors, and met up with an old friend of mine named Wally. He’s probably the most brilliant designer I’ve met, and he’s just a wonderful man. I didn’t have racy New York City stories to swap with him as he did with me… but I did get to briefly show him a few pictures of my pride and joy, my family. Wally’s commentary on Ian’s costume cracked me up — I said “Ian’s halloween costume, he’s Buzz Lightyear.” Wally said “And he’s so totally owning it.” See this image larger.

I’ve got to say I agree: He did own it. Ian doesn’t just try a costume on, he transforms. His imagination is that plentiful. See this image larger.

As Ian said a million times that night, running around the dining room: “To infinibee and beyoooond!” See this image larger.

October 15th, Ian sleeps in a bundle, while his little flashlight alien friend sleeps in a foam finger from a local sports team. This picture was actually a little more cute in its original light, but you couldn’t see much. Imagine a small boy lit in the green light of his nearby alien-friend. See this image larger.

October 16th, the view off of our deck, as the trees give way to fall. See this image larger.

The evening of October 16th will be in part IX of October, a true Nina-fest!!! See you next time!

Still October 10th, now Nina pours on the charm in an attempt to get us to let her run free… alas, not this time little girl! See this image larger.

Am I the only person that looks at this picture and wonders where his little boy has gone? See this image larger.

I couldn’t let this photo op disappear, it reminded me so much of this picture (click to see the old picture) I took of Ian a long time ago, where he had to be the one to sit out on the fun… See this image larger.

Those of you not in Michigan for fall, this shot is for you… makes a great desktop background. See this image larger.

I photoshopped this a bunch, I admit… you’ll note a variance in the skintones that I couldn’t keep consistent. It looks better than the two pictures it is made out of though, trust me. See this image larger.

Parting is such sweet sorrow, right guys? A good-bye hug and it is time to leave already. See this image larger.

Back at home, October 10th… See this image larger.

October 6th, this is the treat that Ian requested from the pink ice cream truck, stored in the freezer for a day when he behaved a little better and finished his dinner. Here he discovers that cold food can sometimes be a little too cold. See this image larger.

But still delicious… See this image larger.

Nina is temporarily thrilled that her brother is going to share his M&M treat with her… this is before we broke the bad news to her… See this image larger.

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BONUS VIDEO! October 7th, behold the face of a girl trying puffs for the first time. If you don’t know what a puff is, imagine something like a… piece of popcorn, without the shell, that is specially formulated to completely melt in your mouth into goo in moments. The idea is, something to try and chew, but failing that not dangerous. Click here to watch the video!
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October 8th, Ian had his PJ bottoms pulled all the way up to his armpits. It was cute, but probably not really (bad) photo worthy. See this image larger.

October 9th, Ian tries out his cool book wherein they teach him to trace inside the lines. He did awesome. This is at least his second time playing with this book, and he did very well the first time, months ago. See this image larger.