Just for fun

Once again I have pulled out some random pictures from my bottomless box for some quick inspiration:

This was taken in February 1996, at Teddy’s first birthday party.  I remember it well–an Italian dinner for 27, followed by cake and presents.  Watching the cake anxiously is Teddy’s second cousin, Alex.  Within moments he was in tears because he was a fastidious three-year-old who was terrified that Teddy would get chocolate on him.

It looks like Alex’s fears were not unfounded!  Teddy certainly enjoyed that cake.  Teddy weighed 12 lbs. when he was born.  We kept waiting for him to thin out and it never happened.  At four he weighed 75.  Finally, when he was in the 8th grade, he lost 40 lbs. in two months (while playing soccer).  These days he seems to prefer protein bars to chocolate cake.

How’s that for utterly random?  This is a picture from one of our most cherished family traditions.  Ever October we used to go to the Crosseyed Cricket, where we would take the hayride to the pumpkin patch for our Halloween pumpkins.  We’d follow that with a catfish dinner at their restaurant.  Sadly, a few years back they closed down most of their operations.  We’ve never found a satisfactory alternative and always seem to be scrambling around at the last minute looking for pumpkins.