It's Summerween Season!

I really meant to actually post this on the 5th, but getting out the laptop seemed too much like work on a 3 day weekend! 

So, how was your 4th?  

Chuck spent some time with his new girlfriend, Penelope.  

Looking at this, she needs her eye sockets filled in and a tutu.

However, she didn't attend the parade in my hometown. 

Dealing with Chuck & 2 grandkids is plenty!

Oakland County's Search & Rescue rig is much fancier than the one we use in Lapeer County (I've been a "professionally trained" volunteer since the team was born back in 2018)

My phone chose to focus on Chuck, but there's a 5' skeleton in the back of that Jeep. 

We had a good laugh at this!

This is advertising for a landscape company - I personally would want them to show up in this!

I think the guy driving this had the most fun!

The people on this float were excited to see Chuck!

We got stickers!

And I just happen to follow @j.a.haunts on YouTube!

The parade always begins with Fire Trucks & Ambulances

and ends with Police. 

The grandkids, of course, had to pose with Chuck.

Oooo, conveniently on the 5th.....

the last of my recent skeleton purchases was delivered!

The dimensions said 17" but for some reason I was thinking ~tall~ and not ~ear to tip of tail~!

But that's OK.  It's still different from the rest of my doggos. 

Oh - and because I'm weak.....

the At Home skeleton wheelbarrow managed to fall into my cart when I went there last.  

And of course, since I've vowed to NOT go back there (after already spending an embarrassing amount of $$) - they sent me an email saying I am now a VIP and here's 15% off my entire purchase! 

Sheesh. 

We didn't do fireworks on the 4th because the granddaughter went home with my sister from the BBQ at Mom's house to spend the night.  She was really looking forward to seeing them so we couldn't let them off without her! 

Chuck was the only one safe from being eaten alive from mosquitos! 

Until later.....

Just waiting on TSC to put their skeletons back online.  This will be an embarrassing amount of $$ that's actually been planned for. And it probably won't even be as much as at At Home! 

TSC keeps doing weird things with their website!  First they had the horse & deer & raccoons & possum, etc all listed, but not yet available to buy.  Then those disappeared and the ones from last year showed up - the 6' rooster & 3' rooster & hen, etc.  Now ALL the plastic skeletons are gone and just the metal animals with the glow in the dark bones painted on them are listed.  Neat, but not what I'm looking for.

Patience.  

ooo, here's a fun (as in horrifying) memory that popped up on Facebook recently.....

Nasty, isn't it?  

That's what happens when you ignore that little warning pic on the side discharge chute of the lawn mower.  Don't try to unclog it while it's running!  

Thankfully it only sliced my nail and fractured the tip of the bone.  

And it healed up nicely - whew!!

Definitely NOT one of my brightest moments!

Happy belated Easter!

Hope everyone had a great Easter!  We had dinner at Sis1's house Saturday, then colored eggs afterward.  Everyone from my house spent the night there, so Sunday we got up & had an Easter Egg hunt after breakfast (the grandkids think the bunny leaves their basket, but their Papa hides the eggs)

Bunny prints! 

Leroy the barn kitty joined us this year. 

One day, the grandkids wanted to take Chuck for a walk - so I compromised and put him in the stroller! 

It's a good thing he was buckled in, or else he wouldn't have survived the racing! 

Ooooo goodies!

I'll save this for my halfway to Halloween post!

#CountdownToHalloween2024 - 4 events in 4 days!

So the last couple days have been really busy! 

I actually have pics from 5 events here, but I'm claiming artistic license. 

I've mentioned before that I volunteer on a search & rescue team so some of these events were with them. 

10/19 was the Elba Fire Dept Trunk or Treat. 

We gave kids the option of candy or pinecones (we were sitting in the shade, facing a large pine tree)

and it was hilarious how many kids took the pinecones!

Beginning the 4 day streak - Thursday, 10/24 was the Top Lights Trunk or Treat

I love going to this.  State troopers, county sheriff's dept, city police, several different fire depts, ambulances, animal control, conservation officers, victim services, child services, and of course - us! 

2 of our very professional K9s

Chuck & Maurice (the disco ball skeleton) were both there!

It was reported that 1400 trick or treaters went thru!

10/25 was the Trunk or Treat at my grandkids' daycare. 

It's supposed to run from 6-8pm but it was pretty much done shortly after 7. 

A couple cars had grown-up treats, too! 

My adorable grandkids. 

Saturday we met up with my sister & her family at Huckleberry RR in Flint, MI for their Ghosts & Goodies event.  

The Spawn in jail

It was fun and very well organized - this is a neat little village where you could trick or treat - and each building was decorated and none of them gave out the same candy.  There were large plywood ghosts that pointed in the direction of the next stop so you could be sure to hit them all.  

We also had tickets for the train. It was about a 45 minute ride thru the woods and they had all sorts of cute little vignettes that were all kid-friendly.  

Finally, Sunday 10/27 was the inaugural trunk or treat at my VFW.  

I thought we had a good turn out - there were about 16 cars (and one Harley!) and I'm not sure how many kids came thru, but there seemed to be a fairly steady stream for the whole 2 hours.

Now we need to build a kid-sized hamster wheel and hook it up to a power station and let the grand kids produce electricity to our house for a while!

The Canterbury Village Dino & Dragon Stroll

Back on May 18, I took the grandkids to see the Dino & Dragon Stroll in Auburn Hills.  

whoops, cut the top of the ad off, but you get the point!

We had a pretty good time.  The kids loved seeing the dinosaurs, since they're both on a dino kick right now. 

We got the last time slot of the day, so the everything was all turned off before we were done (with ice cream & potty trips & jumping in the bounce house, etc) which is great, since LittleMan was kind of freaked out by the noise, even tho I showed him the speakers and we could see where the vinyl was torn on some of them and the animatronics. 

BabyGirl wasn't fazed in the slightest.  

We took the stroller along in case someone got tired, but it ended up carrying Chuck and the backpack.

Some of the little stores were open there, so I got a black succulent for cheap. 

I was bummed that they didn't have signs like this for all the dinos!

Little Man was disappointed he didn't get to see a Pterodactyl, since they had plenty of places they could have displayed it, either up on a tree or on top of a building.   

Kewl!

The only thing I really didn't like is that they seem to equate dragons with Harry Potter, which I've never read nor seen.  I started watching one of the 250 movies in the franchise and since I have an issue deciphering strong accents, I had the volume turned up - then got blasted into the next room by background noise.  So I watched less than 10 minutes.  

Anyhoo, it was nice to get them outside to do and see something different!  

They're supposed to be having dinosaurs at the Detroit Zoo again this summer, we might have to go check them out!

Lookin' at You!