Fluffy Kittens!

Rick and I made it to his folks for the first time since Labor Day!
I had to work Sunday, but we got to spend Friday and Saturday at home and visit with Grandma and Grandpa.
Rollo seemed to like Grandma's lap, but he wasn't a fan of Ted.

Ted wasn't a fan of Rollo either, he stalked Rollo a bit, but when he got close and Rollo huffed at him, Ted went flying into the bedroom.

For any who haven't met him, this is Ted engaged in his favorite 'activity'
Rollo is about the size of his head.

 While we were home we also got to see Puff's kittens!

So Fluffy!

They're a little skittish, so I couldn't get too close, but there's five of them snuggling on the bales here

Rollo's Halloween Photo Shoot!

Turns out, Rollo's a really good sport about being wearing a hat and having his picture taken! My assistant Rick, was mostly in charge of replacing our adorable model's hat, over and over and over as he wandered around knocking it off. 

But we got through it and are happy to present:

Rollo's Halloween Photo Shoot!

Rollo pretends to be camera shy

The light is better in the kitchen, so I originally set up my background on the fridge, however, we were having trouble keeping Rollo's hat on.

So we moved to the couch and right away I got this great shot of Rollo in his wizard hat!

Rollo gives us a sassy side view

And a 3/4 turn with a tilted hat - he was born to be a hedgehog fashion star

Assistant Rick (with his strange glowing hand?) goes in for the 18th hat rescue

Much better - Rollo struts his stuff, showing off his adorable white spot

Here Rollo gives us the "Grumpy hedgehog" face as he wedges himself in the couch

Rick grabs the opportunity to show us what a grumpy hedgehog in a hat looks like

Wizard Rollo casts his spell of cuteness

and again

and yet again

Ta-da! Jazz hands Rollo!

Rollo being cute!

More pictures of Rollo. 

He's too cute not to constantly photograph.

And he really doesn't seem bothered by the flash. I don't know if it's just because his eyesight is poor, or if he's just super laid back? 

Either way, he's a great little model!

Rollo as a little ball of cuteness in Rick's hand

Rollo wiggling to get out of Rick's hand after being tickled (he promptly climbed up my arm and onto my shoulder where he hid under my hair,. Probably to get away from Rick)

Rollo puts his paws together for a dainty shot. Right after this he charged my arm to go running up onto my shoulder again. He's got this idea where he thinks he needs to be under my hair if he can't get under my shirt.

Bill Bryson

The Iowa State Lecture series brought in Bill Bryson! 

Rick and I have both read his book "A Walk in the Woods", which is also one of my favorite book covers.

Especially since Bryson, in preparation for his hiking endeavor, purchases a few books on particularly gory bear attacks, then spends the vast majority of his nights on the Appalachian Trail completely convinced he's going to be brutally mauled and carried off into the woods by a bear.  

The lecture was held in Stephen's Auditorium (which is HUGE, and impressively filled for a lecturer) We think part of the draw is that Bryson is originally from Des Moines. And proved his "Iowaness" by reciting an amusing list of "You know you're an Iowan if..." Our favorites were: 

"'You add an 'R' in Wash" 

and also "If you go anywhere in the world, and meet another Iowan, you get really excited about it. And they get really excited about it."  

Apparently Rick's parents are the most "Iowan" Iowans we know.  

On the way out Rick described our fellow audience members as "A sea of bald heads" and with the exception of a small group of MFA-creative writing students we may have been the only people there under 65.  

We both really enjoyed the lecture.

Two Hedgehogs!

Chocolaterie Stam has an adorable hedgehog mold for it's dark chocolate "cream" bonbon. I brought one home to show Rollo. 

First he sniffed it

Then he looked at me like "What is that supposed to be?"

And then he walked away

I never get over how cute he is!

Chilly Walk

 Rick and I both had the morning free on Saturday, so we took a very chilly stroll to Ada Hayden to see if anything was out and about. The wind seemed to be keeping most birds down but we did spot a few sparrows and some ducks. The colors were really the highlight of our walk.

A sparrow sits in the weeds

An armada of Mallards swim around the lake at Ada Hayden

Crab Apples

More Rollo!

I made Rollo a little bag out of  a piece of fleece. He LOVES it. Whenever we get him out and he's sleepy he just crawls inside his bag and goes back to sleep. 

Rick holding baby Rollo

The light coming through Rollo's spikes has given him an "angelic" aura, Rick and I are not fooled.

Rollo makes his "a little grumpy" face (his super grumpy face is hilarious! He squishes his whole brow!)

Little ball Rollo! He's SO cute when he's all curled up like this

Rollo doesn't seem to poo anywhere but in a specific corner of his pen (he actually MOVES the litter box and poos behind it, but at least he's not an indiscriminate mess maker and we're in the right location) so Rick and I decided to let him run around the bed

Rollo burrows into our quilt! He LOVES to bully his way into things. Rick and I are letting him run with the belief that he's super tough by allowing him head butt us out of the way.

Rollo does a little "Fellowship of the Ring" reading with Rick

Rollo burrows his way under Rick's arm.