So, if you read Part 1 of my post-wrap reflections of Indiana, you may be thinking, "Okay, so two episodes in a week and some cheapo fake jewelry...where's the 'crazy,' Jim 2.0?"

Well, the true craziness happened over the final two days, with our first-ever two-block-party weekend.

First off, I should explain that just throwing one My Home 2.0 block party is a pretty crazy undertaking in itself. Not only is it a huge, outdoor party with tons of interactive booths, food and activities designed to keep hundreds of people entertained for several hours (with all the planning and prep that entails), it's also the culmination of a TV shoot, which has to be synched and timed to mesh perfectly with the live event.

Although the Gurus do a couple tech run-throughs of the makeover reveal before they bring the family in, once they're in, they have just one take to get it right (since you can't fake those genuine, emotional reactions a second time.) And it has to be right for both the TV show taping and the audience outside, who are watching the live feed on the Jumbotron. Producer Kathleen (above) conducts this complex symphony from outside, switching angles on the fly while giving the camera operators directions via headset, as they wind and weave through the house, trailing cables behind them all the way back to the Jumbotron.

So, throwing a successful My Home 2.0 block party takes a lot of work, planning, and a certain amount of grace (one accidentally yanked cable could spell disaster during the finale.)

Oh, and it really, really helps if the weather's nice.

We went into our two-party weekend expecting rain, although we all wished really hard against it. Someone must have heard our pleas, because the damp, cloudy skies parted shortly before the party began, giving way to beautiful, sunny weather throughout pretty much the entire Royer family event on Saturday.

Above: Brian works on Royers' green screen, Foley sound effects cart

The main focal point of the Royer makeover was their stunning basement. It used to look like mostly a repository for old toys and games, but is now a colorful, creativity-inspiring, multi-media playground. It's decked out with an isolated, full-feature sound booth (formerly a closet); a wall-sized special-effects green screen that rolls up when not in use; a custom Foley cart packed with various noise-making props; and state of the art desktop computer station with pro-caliber sound and movie editing software. The boys got an amazing HD camcorder setup (below), complete with a high-quality external mic and a "sun gun" for flooding night scenes with necessary light.

If there's a type of sun gun that shoos away clouds, though, it was nowhere to be found the following day (but you're working on one for next season, right, Gurus?) By late Saturday night, it seemed pretty certain it was going to be a wet day at the Porter family block party, so we scrambled to get some giant tents. (I'm not the one who actually made the late-night "Hey, do you have giant tents?" phone call, but from what I gather, it was pretty entertaining.)

The Porters have a nice big corner lot with lots of space, so the big tents were set up in their front and side driveways. It gave the party a really homey feel, having it all on the Porters' property, and since their home is a neighborhood social hub anyway, it just felt like a natural progression. And it made for less walking, which was good since it rained a bit. And by "rained a bit" I mean "Hurricane Ike."

Yep, I would have thought it was pretty crazy to throw a block party during a hurricane -- if we were in Florida or the Gulf Coast. But I, for one, figured we'd probably miss most of it all the way up in Indiana. And we did -- for the majority of the party, anyway.

We kept checking the weather report every half hour or so, to see if it was going to get worse. It rained on and off pretty much the whole time, but that still didn't stop hundreds of partygoers from going with the flow (sometimes literally) and having a blast.

Early on in the party, MC Big Kess joked into the microphone that it was getting a little wet, but that's okay because we could all just roll around in the mud and have a good time when the shoot was done. Some kids took his words to heart, flopping around the drenched bounce house, playing corn hole (a Midwestern beanbag-toss game), or just good old-fashioned playing in the rain. (The Porter kids had so much rain-soaked fun, in fact, that they had to be rushed back to the RV minutes before the reveal so they could dry off for their final scenes.)

The marvel of the Porter home was their new entertainment center, with a giant HDTV, hooked up to the Gurus' invention, FiOS-Enabled Emotion Detection, a.k.a. the FeED System. In gives the family a one-of-a-kind advantage in online gaming, and when not in use it doubles as a really cool modern art piec e that ties in visually with the family's chicken coop outside.

But the gift that really made everyone mist up was a certificate redeemable for a top-of-the-line hearing aid for mom Melinda, whose difficulty hearing had made her feel like she sometimes was missing out on the full experience of movie night and other family gatherings. As Guru Alison said, she gives so much to her family, and they really wanted something special just for her.

All in all, we did luck out pretty well with the weather during the Porter finale shoot -- the sideways rain and accompanying gusts didn't pick up until the very end of the party, after the reveal, just as the grand prize winner was picking up his HDTV. This was right around the time the wind flipped a production tent over the back yard fence, along with a picnic table that was lashed to it! Fortunately, some seriously hard-working production assistants and other crew members were on hand to make sure everyone's laptops and other equipment didn't get soaked. (Thanks again, Tina!)

Post-party craziness: Exhibits A, B

I don't think any of us knew how insane the weather was going to get that Sunday, but thanks to all the unflappable Fort Wayne residents who showed up to cheer the Porters on, rain or shine, we had a fantastic, fun, and safe block party.

In fact, the residents of Fort Wayne we encountered all week were so nice, truly making us feel welcome, and seemed as excited to have us there as we were to be there (well, most of 'em, anyway.) On behalf of all the crew, thank you, Fort Wayne!

The double-episode shoot, two-block-parties-in-a-hurricane craziness really helped bring the crew and families closer together, and I think there's a real sense among all of us involved that if we can make it through all the challenges of our week in Indiana and knock out some of our best episodes yet, we can get through just about anything.

Can't wait to see the "anything" that the Gurus and crew tackle next!

Posted by Jim 2.0 | tagged: Porter, Royer, behind the scenes, photos, after, block party