I got to enjoy a fairly short work week in-between back-to-back three-day weekends here at home, and I also got to have lunch with some of my favorite people in the middle of the week as well.

First up came a lovely little lunch with Vivian on Wednesday. Vivian has gearing up for another year of BSF with her lady friends, and she had an hour or so in-between her first meet-up with them an an appointment with an eye doctor, so we decided to drop by Maharaja for some Indian food down by 114th and West Dodge Road. I’d coincidentally first learned of the place from an Indian friend from my own BSF class several years ago, and it was nice to sit down for some authentic Pork Vindaloo and Chicken Tikka Masala together along with some fresh-made naan.

Then on Thursday, I had some lunch with my parents and a couple dozen others down at the Pizza Ranch on 84th Street. The River City Republicans had invited Sgt. Aaron Hanson, candidate for Douglas County Sheriff, to stop by and chat about crime, drugs, and using guns for self defense. My folks also got to chat with Marilyn Asher, who is running for state legislature against Megan Hunt. It was an informative little luncheon, and you can read more about it in detail (as well as watch my live stream) over at my political blog.

I had taken Friday off since we’d planned to go on a camping trip over the weekend, but those plans fell through (and there was rain in the forecast anyway), so I had a lovely personal day instead. I went to the dentist for a cleaning followed by a tasty Taco Bell breakfast, and then I stopped by the Shadowlake Hy-Vee to say hello to Scott Voorhees, who was doing his show on KFAB from their entryway. I spent the rest of the day tidying up the garage and unearthing some of our camping stuff a few weeks ahead of our trip. I also uncovered some previously lost items that I was happy to find again.

It rained most of Saturday, which was just fine by me as we spent some quality time cleaning house, doing laundry, and emptying out the fridge. Once the rain stopped, I walked with the kids over to my parents’ house, where they spent some time with Uncle Jonny as I rummaged through my dad’s closet, taking a few shirts off his hands such as one stylish T-shirt from Dreamland BBQ, the best barbecue joint in America.

We had some particularly nice weather in Sunday, so after church (and letting Harold run around a bit outside), we took the kids down to Ditmar’s Orchard for some apple picking. They had some fun activities for their “Fields of Flight” weekend, such as some bounce houses, an inflatable ax-throwing station, and a petting zoo with a bunch of goats. Our kids got a little time on the slides and the playground as well, which Hannah commented seemed to have “shrunk” since she’d been there last.

Of course, we also got plenty of time for apple–picking, walking up and down a few rows to fill a ten-pound bag. We finished off our visit with a hayrack ride around the grounds and then some dancing atop some tractor tires before heading home. We’d missed out on the hot air balloons that had come by earlier, but it was actually nice to be able to let the kids explore without a massive crowd of people here for a change. Maybe we’ll do the same next year.

Happy fall, y’all!