My Goofballs

I tell ya - these two keep me on my toes. They are seriously my goofballs.

Above you can see, Bri and I dragged Doug to Justice for Girls a couple of weeks ago and he made the best of it. After putting on some unicorn earmuffs with B, Doug said they were "totally twinning." :)

These two in a "Think Geek" store - like two kids in a candy shop. I couldn't drag them out of there...

My little gamer is obsessed with Pokemon, Minecraft, Roblox and Blocksworld. It is what she loves to talk about the most in life...

B's a skinny minnie, but she can scarf down a Steak n Shake shake, hamburger, fries and mac n cheese like she has never had a meal before...

I ask her to smile for a picture, and I get this...

Not many people can get away with wearing a soccer emoji happy-faced jacket...

Bri is obsessed with dabbing...

And she found a "Dab Cat" shirt to flaunt it...

Posing normally for a pic is overrated...

I have another goofball in my house, and that is my cat Mei Mei. She loves when Bri comes home from school because she "helps" with homework each day (even though she knows she is not supposed to get on the kitchen table)...

Mei has friended the one-eyed bunny that frequents our house...

And as most of you know, Briana still has her beloved Pink Baby...

Well Mei Mei has her crutches "babies" as well. Years ago, I gave her these angry bird cat toys...

She carries them all over the house. In the below pic, she brought each one of these "babies" upstairs one by one over a two or three hour span. She cries as she carries them around the house...

She LOVES her babies...

And of course when you are a kid jumping in a pile of leaves, it makes total sense for dad to blow all the leaves off of you with a leaf blower. In the front yard. In front of all the neighbors...

Despite being sick a lot in my life, I am grateful that my goofballs can still manage to put a smile on my face.

School Fall Festival

In mid-October, our friends/neighbors Jennifer and Caitlin invited Bri and I to join them at the elementary school fall festival. Bri was missing her old elementary school, so we immediately said yes.

We stopped first at the pumpkin patch. Each class decorated a pumpkin to be auctioned off to raise money for the school...

The pumpkins were so amazing. I couldn't pick a favorite...

Then it was swing time...

The girls wanted "crazy hair"...

And they got temporary tattoos...

They stopped at the petting zoo and Bri ran into her buddy Daniel...

 The girls ended the evening with some light up glasses and a light up grill...

A big thank you to Jennifer and Caitlin for letting us come along for a fun evening!

Rest In Peace Grandma

Doug's grandmother (Grandma Anne) passed away on October 18 (Doug received the beautiful flowers in the picture above from his co-workers). Grandma Anne was Doug's last surviving grandparent. She was 96 years old. With Grandma being 96, we expected there would not be much time left, but surprisingly, her passing was actually quite unexpected. Her health declined for a couple of days and then she was gone.

I'm so grateful that Doug, Bri and I went to visit her and Grandpa last year. Grandpa passed 3 weeks after we visited with him.

We had a such a nice time visiting with Grandma and got some wonderful pictures last year...

Sadly, due to my health issues and Bri being in school, I could not attend her funeral. But, Doug was able to get up to Michigan and pay his last respects.

Doug had a very special relationship with his grandma. He was her little "Dougie." She was a very special lady and will be greatly missed.

Autumn Moon Festival

The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival landed at the beginning of October this year and though I was pretty sick (once again), I refused to let the holiday go by without making our annual "moon cookies."

The day before moon festival, I helped Bri prep the cookie dough and she really did all the rest...

Look how pretty they turned out...

She had to keep Doug away for the picture...

Moon cookies...

The next day was Autumn Moon Festival and the moon was full and bright...

Honestly, I've always loved the moon. I had a telescope as a little kid and swore I was going to be an astronomer. When Bri came into my life, I started loving the moon even more.

Cirque Du Soleil's Luzia

As you all know, we are big Cirque people in this house. We see all the new shows when they come to town. And it was no different when we heard that "Luzia" was in Atlanta.

Briana wanted to dress up for the show...

We always get excited when we see the big top in the distance...

When we entered the tent, it was filled with Spanish flavor...

The stage was beautiful. The show was a "waking dream of Mexico"...

The singing, performers, the sets - it was all so beautiful. And what was really exciting, it was the first time I could take photos and videos of a Cirque show. It's always been banned, but this time, it was allowed. So happy about that...

The first half then began...

The falling water throughout the show was one of my favorite parts...

The comic relief (clown) of the show picked Doug to be a part of one of the acts. Of course, Doug played along perfectly and had the crowd and even the clown laughing...

He made Doug and another man switch seats...

Then it was on to the acrobatics again...

Another favorite part of the show was when the soccer players came on stage and showed their skills...

The end of the first act. The water was falling again (it actually has patterns in it - see the video below)...

The second half of the show was just as amazing...

I love this guy who spun around in the air and flew over water...

The juggler was insane...

I have to admit - the contortionist was kind of hard to watch at times!!

The finale...

The show was absolutely amazing! I might even say it possibly slipped into my top 5 of favorite Cirque shows. I think I need to do an official ranking soon! LOL! If the show comes to your town, I highly recommend it!!