Iowa in a nutshell...or a cornhusk

I designed this Jack-0-lantern myself.
Not too bad, if I do say so myself.

Guess what I am for Halloween?

A mouse in a house!

Here's Uncle Jiffy Pop (aka Jeffy Gecko) at the zoo with me. We're pretending to be prairie dogs.

A Froggy Mouse and Mama.

Froggy Mouse, Uncle Jiffy Pop and Auntie Honka.

On the zoo train with Mama!

And Mama's Papa!

Me and Papa.

Trick or treat!

Here I am playing Mama's violin!

Canada Geese.

Auntie Honka and I with her pup Ruby!

My Native American name is "Runs with dogs."

Auntie Honka and Ruby playing fetch.

Grandma Sue and Uncle "M" drinking some of his homemade hooch. Not bad, not bad at all.

My crazy family getting a good picture of Cousin E-boy on his 9th birthday! Did they get a good one?

Yep.

Cousin E-boy playing the nose flute.

Aunt B. aka, "the bad example"

Gigglin' with E-boy.This is Mommy's friend "C". They've been friends since they were campfire girls. Her two boys are pretty stinkin' cute.

Here I am at the Bridges of Madison County. Where's Meryl and Clint?

Auntie Honka, Papa, and Grandma Sue.

Corn. Mmmmm corn.

Crunch, crunch in the leaves.

Buried in corn. Yes, this is entertainment in Iowa. Don't laugh.

Climbing hay. Mama said she used to leap from bale to bale as a kid.

We visited the Howell tree farm.

Is he supposed to eat my finger too?

I love my Papa and Grandma!

Oink.

Great Grammy!!! She turned 90 in August!

Grandma Sue teaching me how to ride a big girl bike.

Iowa

Froggy and I arrived in Iowa Saturday.

I probably won't post pics until we return on the 27th. The fall foliage is incredible. Today we went to a farm where Froggy fed goats and chickens, played in a big corn box (it's like a sand box but with corn). And then drove to Winterset, where "The Bridges of Madison County" was filmed.

As always, we're having a great time. Froggy loves being the center of everyone's life here. And I love getting a break! In the morning, we'll take a long walk down my parents' road, where I hope to get some incredible pictures of the Frog in Foliage.

Miss you Froggydadda. Don't forget to feed the cats. -- Whenever we leave, FD says he's going to impose "Operation Kitty Slimdown." Yes, our cats are portly, but still. Feed them anyway.

A Froggy Sunset

Froggy and I leave for Iowa on Saturday, so tonight we drove to the beach and enjoyed a beautiful California sunset. Froggy played at the park, and we had dinner at one of our favorite beach spots.

It really hit me how much we'll miss FD tonight. Froggy felt it too and hugged her Dadda extra tight tonight. It's full-moons and sunsets like this that really make me appreciate the beauty of a coastal evening.