Back in January 2005, we bought a used 2002 Toyota RAV4 for Amy to replace her ailing Honda Civic. We've been really happy with the RAV4, having put it through a lot of road trips and general daily commuting. Since purchase, we've had it serviced at our local Toyota dealer, which despite a higher labor cost, has always done us right.
Our 2002 Toyota RAV4
It's Election Day and being our civic duty to uphold the high level of corruption that Chicago is known for, we headed off to the polling place down the street.
Amy holds... a lame piece of paper
Unlike many of the suburbs and other parts of the city, we don't get cool "I Voted" stickers. Nope, our precinct is cheap, handing out these pieces of paper instead.
How Exciting!
I'm trying to hold back the emotion that this piece of paper evokes!
Amy & Steve strike a Pixar pose
Our Halloween costumes (just don't ask about the spandex!)
Continuing a yearly Halloween tradition here on SteveandAmySly.com…
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown debuted on October 27, 1966, as the third Peanuts television special (the first obviously being the Christmas one). It is here that most of the world who wasn't reading the comic strips was introduced to Linus Van Pelt's fascination with "the Great Pumpkin".
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown LP from 1978
Charles Schulz thought it would be funny to see what happens if a child confused Halloween with Christmas… and the rest was history. This year, the show is celebrating its 44th anniversary.
While most are familiar with the TV version of this story, many might not know that an audio-only adaptation of the show was created on record in 1978. This shortened-for-LP version contains all the same voice talent and sound effects, but scripted as an exclusive listening experience. The original record has long been out-of-print and surprisingly has never been released on CD.
(If you listen carefully, you can hear the audio voice talent edits done to make the for-TV audio work as an audio-only experience… and note that these edits aren't done with the same voices.)
As a special Halloween treat, you can download this audio story here in MP3 format… but just during Halloween season only! Once November 1 comes around, it's gone! Enjoy 
Download
It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Part 1) [Link Expired]
(MP3, 9:38, 13.4MB)
It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Part 2) [Link Expired]
(MP3, 9:15, 12.9MB)
As we have well-documented here on the blog, we're big fans of the Ticket to Ride boardgame series. At the beginning of the summer, Amy & I started keeping track of our matchups by writing the scores on our guest bathroom wall. It features chalkboard paint so we're literally updating a scoreboard when a game is completed.
We recently got to the bottom of the first "column" of scores and I thought it would be fun to share the results with everyone who may be interested in our gaming habits.
Steve vs. Amy: Game Results
For the record, in head-to-head matchups, I've won 6 games and Amy has won 8!
Last weekend we returned to Jonamac Orchards for some fall activity fun in their corn maze. You may recall that we first checked this place out last September.
Beautiful Fall Sky
Steve & Amy tackle the corn maze
Jonamac is located in Malta, IL, right off the Lincoln Highway near DeKalb. It just takes a bit of travel from the city. Hop on I-88 and keep driving for a while!
Recently Amy & I packed up the RAV4 with our tent and headed out to Rockford for a little camping and mountain biking. The weather couldn't have been more cooperative. We had an awesome time!
Steve conquers... the bridge!
Rock Cut State Park is located on the northeast edge of Rockford, approximately 1.5 hours from Chicago. We've camped here before with larger groups, but this time around it was just us. Having spent the summer of 1995 living in Rockford during my internship at WIFR-23, Rockford holds an "interesting" place in my heart. I think I'll leave it at that.
Our Campsite at Rock Cut State Park
Amy relaxes with a book
We didn't make advanced reservations, but had no problem getting a campsite. Thanks to some advanced notes my parents took on their last time at the park, we had a good idea which campsite would be best suited for our tastes. We ended up with a nice spot completely surrounded by trees, which made for a quieter, less chaotic experience.
If you were to take a look at my iTunes collection, you'd notice two genres that are substantially larger in song quantity when compared to an "average" person. The first is "Christmas", which isn't a surprise for anyone who has participated in my annual Steve's 25 Days of Christmas Music countdowns. The other is "Disney Theme Park", which features songs, area music, soundtracks, and other related audio from Disney-owned theme parks around the world.
The Official Album of Disneyland (2008)
Thus, you have to understand my excitement when I'm able to add some new audio to this collection. There is quite a bit of Disney theme park audio out there, and to be honest, most of it is unofficial and obtained via "underground" means. However, since 1980 Disney has released what they termed "Official Albums" for their parks, eventually growing from a single LP into multi-CD sets that cover Disneyland or Walt Disney World. Other special sets have also been released to compliment this genre, such as 2009's 5-disc Walt Disney and the 1964 World's Fair set or 2005's elite 6-disc release to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Walt's original park, A Musical History of Disneyland.
On Thursday night, Amy and I headed downtown to Millennium Park to catch some music as part of the "Made in Chicago: World Class Jazz 2010" series. We did this last year as well and really enjoyed the night of quality tunes under the stars.
Jay Pritzker Pavilion at night
In effect, taking part in something like this is a lot like going to Ravina, with the suburban "snootiness factor" dialed down considerably. Since there is a large lawn at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, you can bring along a blanket and chairs, dinner, and some wine, and just enjoy some great jazz.
Last night we headed over to Indian Boundary Park on the North Side to catch another one of the Chicago Park District's summer "Movies in the Park" showings. Over the years, we've experienced many of these free films, including Surf's Up, Kung Fu Panda, and The Bourne Ultimatum. This time around it was one of our favorites… Clue.
Eerie evening sky over "Clue"
We were joined by our friend Nick Rosario — as well as his sister Heather and her two daughters. We made some food and brought it with us to have a little picnic ahead of time, "poor man's Ravinia" style!
Amy & Steve
