Weekend in Pictures - Wedding Edition

Sexy Time!

When you have four kids, making plans for Halloween partying can be a last minute undertaking. As with most aspects of our social life, it's all dependent on the babysitting situation. This weekend, Julie's parents came through for us and we got to attend a real live Halloween party. (Thank you!) Of course, we didn't cement our plans until the last minute and that made for some rushed costume plans. Like the night before Halloween rushed. The end result was Julie as some sort of white trash housewife with a big plastic wig that made her look like she was out of the Simpsons. My limited costume choices led to the merging of a Borat wig and mustache with an "ancient warrior" get up. I was "Boratacus." I think maybe I looked more like a 1st century Rick James. Whatever. I'll plan ahead next year. For those of you not in the know, the orange costume that my brother Kip is sporting below is DJ Lance Rock, from Yo Gabba Gabba! See the origin of DJ Lance here. (By the way, I'd rather go to this than a Wiggles concert any day.)

The party was great. Lots of great food and lots of alcohol. Both of which I had too much. Especially the alcohol. Let's just say it was a bumpy ride home. And let's just say that moving my sister into her new apartment this morning was the last thing I wanted to be doing. I am officially way too old for things like beer pong, jello shots and ice luges. I was officially too old for those things years ago, but I had to check one more time, just in case. Yes, way too old.

By the way, the ice luges weren't just your run of the mill blocks of ice. They were, um, shaped. Like things. I'm definitely, definitely too old for this.

Warning, the following pictures may offend some clergymen, Republicans and kindergarten teachers.

I'm Still Alive (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah)

The surprise party was a success. Julie had no clue it was coming and I think she had a really great time. (At the very least, the kids had an unbelievable time.) She was pretty exhausted by the end of the day but she appreciated all the festivities. Plus, she got a facial and cute haircut out of the deal. (Her mom noted that if her husband had done something like this for her, she would have killed him. Exactly the response I was worried about.)

Maybe the best part of the whole day was the fact that the kids got to play outside all day. This, of course, means they were exhausted and ready for early bedtimes. With the house full of sleeping babies Julie and I actually got to enjoy a movie (and finish off the chips and salsa from the party). As if Julie wasn't impressed enough by the day's events, I put the icing on the cake by renting He's Just Not That Into You. Usually my Netflix deliveries are reserved for Jason Statham movies, but this was Julie's day after all. Next in the queue: Gran Torino. Don't let me down, Clint.

Side note movie review: I'm really not anti-chick flick, but I just wasn't that into this movie. (Ha! See what I did there!) Anyway. It was your typical relationship movie. The kind that has to be remade every four or five years to update the context. The problem with this one was that at no point did I emotionally connect enough with any of the characters to actually give a flying procreational act how their relationships failed or succeeded. Maybe there were too many characters. Maybe the acting was too mediocre. Either way, I wanted to just skip to the end to see what cheesy cliches they would use to wrap it up. It was predictable as ever, but I guess there's a pattern you are required to follow in these movies. On the plus side, Ben Affleck was only 1/3 as annoying as usual. By the way, Scarlett Johansson is yet another "hot" actress that does not register in my book. She wouldn't make it out of round one in my brackets.

OK, back to the business at hand. Here are a few pictures from the party. The kids pretty much spent the entire day in the water or in the sandbox. Or both at the same time. The kids weren't the only ones to be exhausted at the end of the day -- be sure to check out the video.

We've gone through a couple of lame sprinkler attachments the last couple of years. The blow up fire truck has been a hit, though.



"Fer crying out loud, I can't believe the wait is this long for shuffleboard."



No time to eat when there's a running garden hose.



Margarita break!



Jameson was so tired he actually fell asleep in the shower. No joke.

Now this video is the pièce de résistance. This was taken shortly after dinner and though it may resemble Shady Acres Retirement Home, it was shot in my living room. The instrumental section of "When the Levee Breaks" was playing in the background and for some reason seems to fit this so well. The stars of this video are my father, Jim, my great uncle, Ron, and my uncle, Mike. As my family will recognize, this scene could have been plucked from just about any family function of the last couple of decades.

Surprise! (Don't Be Mad)

I'm rolling the dice a little today. I've planned a surprise party/cookout in Julie's honor. We're less than ten weeks away from welcoming baby number four into the family and I don't think we've made much fuss about it. Julie has been incredibly busy at work. I've been incredibly busy not strangling the kids. We haven't had much time to reflect on the fact that we'll soon have another life in our home. And, frankly, the novelty of pregnancy has worn off a little this third time around. It's not to say that Julie isn't 100% aware that she's the size of a beach ball, is constantly kicked from the inside out, and is perpetually tired, hungry and ready to pee. We are all well aware that she's pregnant. But I don't think we've given Julie or this baby their proper due. We haven't looked at any baby name books. No need to shop for baby clothes. No wild ass speculation about the sex of the baby. Much of the lack of hype is a credit to Julie. Physically and mentally she's handled this pregnancy better than the previous two. She's been diligent about watching her blood sugar. She was still taking karate classes up until a few weeks ago. (Don't worry, no sparring.)

So, I decided to invite some neighbors, friends and local family over to lavish a little attention on Julie and the new baby. Right now she's off to the salon for a haircut and a facial. When she gets back we'll surprise her.

Now please pray for me that this isn't the exact opposite of what a six and a half month pregnant, full-time working, mother of three would want.