Why I Oughta...

Some of them are absolutely HUGE.  These were planted via seed tape ( post here ) and did pretty well in terms of size, but not so much on taste.  They were a bit woody tasting when eaten raw.  But...they sure do look awesome.  Next year, I'll see if I can optimize the growth to focus on taste.

Walking to the train last week, I spotted a few of these along York Street.  They were recently installed (based on the marks on the pavers) and I think should be a welcome move by the Downtown merchants.  Nice to have more options to park your bike.

Over the weekend, we took both girls out to Berens Park for the Elmhurst Park District's annual "Touch-a-Truck" program.  The weather was awesome, the crowds weren't too huge (once the helicopter arrived!) and we had a ton of fun. Touch-a-Truck is a really neat program that the Park District pulls together.  They bring out their own equipment (see the tractor above), but also work with community partners to bring out all the cool stuff.  Fire Trucks, Police Cars, Moving Trucks, Jewel Refrigerated Trucks, and even...a helicopter.  Yep!  A medical helicopter. As soon as it landed in one of the baseball fields, the lines for all the other trucks got cut in half, so we quickly boarded a bunch of them then made our way to the helicopter area and waited in line. At the end?  We even got the Babe on the chopper!  Pretty cool stuff.  Good job, Elmhurst Park District!

Though they're about a month behind of where I've had them in past years, we finally have some pumpkin blooms popping out.  I've put them in a different spot this year and probably got them in the ground a bit late, so we'll see what we have by Halloween.  I'm going to give them a little boost with a fertilizer this week and I'll try to pinch off any other blooms to make sure the vine puts all of it's energy in this little guy. Here's a photo of early pumpkins in 2011 . Here's a photo of the early pumpkin plant in 2012 .

After an early morning session of "Biddy Soccer" with the Babe (and some celebratory Slurpee's from 7-11), we stopped at a few yard sales.  The Babe looking for some cheap My Little Ponies and me looking for some treasures. I came across this cute little vintage ceramic Christmas tree.  As you guys well know, I'm all over vintage Christmas stuff. I was pretty surprised when I tried to pick it up and it came apart.  What was it? A sweet lighter and four ashtrays.  How very retro!?!  They were asking just $1.00, so I tried to hide my excitement and casually handed the lady my dollar bill.  I brought it home and immediately emailed my dad some photos to show it off.

A few weeks back, we dropped off a load of stuff at GoodWill and while there, I couldn't help but take a quick pass through the aisles to see if there was anything interesting.  This blowmold Santa - standing at about 15" tall - was listed at $1.00.  With the 20% off coupon in my hand from the donation, I snapped him up for all of $0.80. It wasn't until I got home to figure out if it worked, but lo and behold, after a tightening of the bulb, it glows just right! The Babe was with me and she said that she wants him to stand guard in her room during the holiday season.

Yesterday, I posted an image of a little caroler that we picked up at the Kane County Flea Market.  She was all by herself, but too much of a bargain to pass up. I went hunting around on ebay and found this listing which has her and her four friends accompanying her.  She's part of a band!    (that's them above) I'm awfully hesitant to buy something like this on ebay.  I like the hunt, so I'll start to keep an eye out for each of these guys.  Guessing they'll cost more than the $21.99 (including shipping) that this seller is asking, though!

Over the long holiday weekend, we took the girls and went with Nat's sister out to the Kane County Flea Market.  Everyone came home with something.  Nat scored an old book, her sister added to her bronze 'critter' collection, and I picked up a few vintage Christmas things including this little Mrs. Claus. She has some spaghetti-like trim, so she'll go nicely with the other pieces we have like this Santa . There were a bunch more things I would have picked up, but the prices seemed high to me.  That appears to be the big difference:  garage sale folks just want to get rid of things and sometimes don't really care what the prices are whereas the Flea Market folks know *exactly* what they have and charge prices as such.