Halloween And Other Things.

October. This is a good month for us typically. It helps that we live in St. Louis because if you like baseball, there is no better city to be in around October. Unfortunately they just couldn't get it together to make it in 2014. Oh well, let's hope for next year. October also means Halloween. Sam for the 2nd year in a row was a race car driver....Kyle Busch specifically.  We tried to get him to choose another costume but he really liked this one so it was set in stone. This marked our second Halloween in our house and it seems somewhat strange because it feels like we just unpacked. As I sit and type this out , these pictures remind me that we still need to paint the entire lower level. Life just gets in the way of things I guess. 

The month of October also marks the end of the 2014 Camping/Traveling season. I winterized the RV on Thursday before the first hard freeze of the season. We were able to put up some respectable numbers in terms of nights spent away from home. Unless we get a stretch of good weather around Christmas, I think it will remain closed up tight until March or April. A long 5-6  months from now. Boo. 

Even Gibson had his costume on. 

 A neighbors pumpkin a few blocks over. 

I wish I had taken more photos of the actual evening because it was absolutely crazy. I was too busy following and keeping an eye on Sam so I guess I had an excuse.  Having lived in New Town for I think 8 years now, I really have not had a chance to experience the holiday in true NT fashion. As we rounded the corner and headed for home, the line of cars dumping kids off looked like the closing scene from Field of Dreams.  I figured we walked about a mile and a half. At one point I had to lighten Sam's candy bucket by stuffing a few lbs in my coat!

Our Lego Pumpkin. The Newest Obsession in our house. Not the pumpkin, the Lego Corp.

Sunset from my backyard this week....Another house going up. Our street is really starting to come together with just a few more empty lots remaining.  It will be nice when the sidewalks are complete...tired of dodging speeding cars.

This month we also made the pilgrimage to Houston to see Papa and Binga (Grandparents). We have flown now 3 times with both the kids and this was the first somewhat "good" experience traveling. Both Sam and Max were on great behavior and caused minimal frustrations. It helps that we strapped Max into his carset on the plane....this is more for the fellow passengers safety than Max's. We spent a lot of time in the pool and eating Texas Sized Meals. 

Texas means double Piggy's

Picked up a few things at the local HEB( Texas Grocery Chain). The Tortillas are made fresh in the store and are seriously the best I have ever had. Also their House brand of spices are really good, so we load up when we are there. The Beinget Mix you can find here, but it was a good price so I bought a few. 

Last night I fired up the grill....got it good and Hot for some steaks. Unfortunately the result was not great. Costco let us down....NY Strips were like shoe leather despite being cooked correctly....or at least within my acceptable tollerance. 

Some bread I picked up from Marsala's Market in New Town. I added the Garlic

With the time change this weekend, I was forced to put new batteries in my grillin' light. Its that time of year again. Boo. 

Fall and Stuff...

Kansas speedway yet again. This time just my brother in law and I. Made for much more room in the RV and a lot less stress. It was a good weekend and well needed.  We meet some good salt of the earth folks form all over the midwest on our drunken campground walks. Even meet a few folks from some of the areas of Kansas I work in. They fed us some great ribs! Sadly no photos. 

A little muddy, but nothing for Big Green. 

Last week I traveled for work and got a little golf in as well. South Carolina is a nice place this time of year. 

Bag O Beers and Jeans scream the south. 

Downtown Anderson, SC.

One of the absoloute best values in Golf I have ever had is the Walker Course in Clemson, SC. The place was awesome. $40 including a cart and the back nine was pretty much on the water. 

Re-Strung the Axis this month too. Don't think I have ever done it. It seems like years since I picked up a guitar...felt pretty good.

The Walker Course Keepsake. 

That time of year again....if you know what this pink stuff is you know this is the begining of a long winter.  More to come on this.Hate this by the way... We did a fair number of good trips and have a huge year planned for next year including a beach trip. It might be the undoing for our family and the rv. Here is a photo of our site in in May

Carlyle Lake Once Again

This past weekend was potentially our last family trip weekend trip of the season and it was a very low key event compared to some of our other trips. I can see it getting harder and harder to do as the kids get older. It makes planning out the season even more important because the RV industry is really booming now. Getting a good camp site on a quick notice is almost impossible and in some cases requires a year in advance booking. This past weekend at our favorite spot on Carlyle Lake, there was not a single available site in the loop we like. I snagged this site over 2 months ago and it was the last one available. We were in site 15, in the less desirable middle area. Plenty of shade, but not great privacy or lake views. 

We also seemed to avert disaster with the water supply. While outside using the water sprayer cleaning up after dinner, I noticed that the water pressure was lacking. After investigating I found a supply line essentially crimped off. It had to have been there since the RV was built because it was "forced" into this arrangement. Over time and bumpy roads, a pin hole developed and as I was trying to move the lines around a leak started. If this would have happened int he middle of the night it would have been disastrous. Another reason to always shut off your water supply when leaving for the day! I would not want to come back to water pouring out the doors. Luckily I had all the stuff to fix it and we were good in about 20 minutes. 

Another thing that was very evident, is that the kids really need a more than a 2 day trip to get comfortable. The first day is usually somewhat crap because everyone is just out of rhythm. On Sunday, everyone was mellow and totally in the groove. It was hard to pack up and leave. 

The damaged water line. 

"I'm going to sit next to this tree and eat bread"

This is what a kid looks like with out an Ipad in his hands. 

The great thing about this place is the PAVEMENT!! Large enough to move about, do chalk drawings and walk barefoot without worrying about mud. In the event of a rainstorm, a site like this is a huge plus.  I do like the parks that are more spartan, but with kids having hard surfaces to run around on, this is hard to beat.