Blog Lafayette

Sundays have long been a favorite day for me. It has always been a day for family, fun, and relaxation. There were lazy Sunday afternoons on the bank of the Embarrass River close to my grandparents home in rural Hidalgo, Illinois. I remember fish frying in the cast iron skillet on the campfire and the sound of my dad and his brothers playing horseshoes. I remember the way my grandpa would make all of us kids laugh with his sense of humor as he would tease us and tell us the way that we could have a mustache just like his. Something about cow manure rubbed in the strategic spot…

None of us kids tried it of course!

Sunday was a good day of the week to be a kid. We weren’t spending every waking hour hunched over a computer or in front of a video game. I remember one of my favorite things to do on those lazy Sunday afternoons was to pick a slender tree about 15 or 20 feet tall and climb it until I got to the point where my body weight would be more than the tree could handle and it would bend over as I clung to the upper trunk. I would be lowered to the ground and then I would let go of the tree. It would spring back up straight, ready for another go around from one of us kids.

As I sit here and remember those days I am struck by the memories that I haven’t let my mind dwell on in many years. The feeling of cool mud between my toes as I ran around the woods with my cousins. The thrill of swimming in the river and fighting against the current in order to stay close to where we were swimming. The smell of the fire and the stories from the adults around the fire. Great memories. I always looked forward to the family times on the river with my Dad’s side of the family.

Time moves on…

Those days are long gone and the business of life, work, and my own family are my main concerns now. I do not see my extended family very often. Kind of crazy the way life and time can separate people. They are a good memory though and I am grateful for the good memories. Do you have good memories that you have not thought about for some time? Is life pushing you to be too busy? Take some Sunday time today and spend a little while allowing yourself to remember. Find some memories that are good for your heart and soul.

What in the world are you talking about!? I can just hear it now. What does a blog about Lafayette Indiana have to do with dragons?

Simple. Kids like dragons. And the Tippecanoe County Public Library is having a fun event especially for kids on Monday March 28th at 3:00 p.m. at the Klondike branch. The event is called “Dragonology.” It for kids aged 7 and up. Kids get to join the secret & ancient “Society of Dragonologists.” They also get to learn dragons secrets and how to defeat them with riddles. And best of all, they get to hunt for dragon eggs. Sounds like a fun time for your child or grandchild. Harvesting your child’s imagination is priceless. Here is a great chance to do just that. Have fun all!

You have decided what your niche is going to be and what kind of blogging platform you are going to use. What comes next? Now is the time to make sure that your blog has a look and style that you can be comfortable with. That means picking a theme for your blog.

All blogging platforms come with a basic theme set to choose from. If you are going to be writing a blog about what you and your friends did last week or what you had for breakfast this morning then pick a theme that is simple but fun. My wife is a fan of books and writing. Her blog, http://www.seasonedwithtime.com/hisandherblog/ has a theme based on writing paper and chalkboards. It is fun and has a more personal feel and it reflects who she is. My blog theme is more squared off and official looking. I am trying for a professional look. If I were writing about baseball then I would possibly have a theme with some baseball imagery incorporated into it.

The point I am making is this, your theme should match your niche and your goals for the blog. If you want to make money or be taken seriously when you offer information and opinions then choose a professional theme. If all you want to do is vent or have fun then choose a fun theme.

Depending upon which platform you decide to use to set up your blog, you can have quite a selection of themes to choose from. If your blog is a WordPress blog, go into the Dashboard, then Appearance, and then Themes. Once in the Themes section if you want to find more themes to use then go to the Install Themes area and perform a search. WordPress has many free themes available for use, and many themes that can be purchased as well. Purchasing a theme gives you more options and more tech support for the theme. Each blog platform has its own method of navigating and changing themes.

Whatever your platform, it is important to take the time to look at the themes available. Now is the time to make sure you like the way your blog looks to the world. This is where you start to make it YOUR blog.

I am sad to say that the Columbian Park Zoo in Lafayette is closed for the winter from October 11, 2010 through Mid-April 2011. But, If you haven’t been able to spent time at the zoo in Lafayette for awhile then this week you are in luck. You can still go to an event there. The Boo at the Zoo event is taking place for the youngsters this week. The event started on the 20th but you still have two more nights that you can attend, October 21 and 22 from 6:30 to 9:00 pm. To quote the Columbian Park Zoo web-page, “This “spooktacular” event is family-friendly and offers several games and activities such as Pumpkin Bowling, Mad Scientist Laboratory, and the Enchanted Train Ride.”

Make sure to plan to go to the zoo when it opens again this next spring too. They have a lot of interesting animals, including a petting zoo, eagles, otters, monkeys, and many more. If you haven’t been in a while then you may be pleasantly surprised. The look and feel of the zoo and park has changed substantially in the last year with the major remodeling and redesign of the zoo. They did a good job. As a result, you get a fun day at the zoo that doesn’t cost anything! Can’t beat that.

Halloween is quickly approaching for Lafayette and communities all over the United States. Kids get to enjoy the fun of wearing this year’s favorite costumes and traveling from door to door in search of treats from their fun loving neighbors. Halloween is meant to be fun.

Our grandsons, Chase and Parker in costume.

My fun memories include dressing up as either Dracula or the Mummy and then finding my friends to hit the town with. We were in search of all the treats we could handle and then some. In all my kid years I was never afraid of getting hurt by mean people or harmful treats. Back then, it was so much easier to be a kid.

Times have changed. Every year we are reminded of the risks and responsibilities associated with the Halloween holiday. And that is as it should be. Our kids are the most important responsibility that we will ever accept. With that in mind, I have added a link, the Halloween Safety Guide, that I think every parent should click to get great information on how to keep your children safe during this upcoming season. The Halloween Safety Guide is great site that has been lending tips to keep children and adults safe during the Halloween festivities since 2000.

If you choose to participate in Halloween activities I hope that you will take the time to be prepared and to be extra safe this year. We can go a long way to ensuring that Halloween is great fun if we do our duty as parents to keep our kids safe. Here’s hoping you and your kids have a fun and spooky Lafayette Halloween this year!