Two Weeks Without Kids!

Lucy, the mermaid
Maggie, the fortune teller

Snow day!

Freezing at the Rockies game

Us at Melanie & Jake's wedding

Fun times bowling

More bowling

....and more bowling

Lucy, before her first gymnastics class!

The kids went to Arkansas for two whole weeks in October during Maggie's fall break. The girls and I flew there on Oct. 8 then I flew back to meet up with Ian for a wedding in Vail that weekend. Ian went back to Arkansas for a guy's weekend for the AR vs. Ole Miss game and he brought the girls back on Oct. 25. It was both good and weird not having my girls for that long! The house was so quiet...and clean! I didn't raise my voice one time in two weeks, it was amazing! But, we missed them so much. I could not wait until they returned. I think they were pretty happy to be back as well. They got to spend time with Marmee and Papa Doug, Nana and Pop and Papa and Mawsie. They sort of rotated to different houses so they got to spend time with their cousins. Ian and I had the opportunity to do several things that we'd been wanting to do. We went to a Broncos game, a Rockies game, spent that weekend in Vail (for a friend's wedding), went out to eat at some great places, went clothes shopping for Ian and went to a movie - all things that are a little more difficult to do when the kids tag along! More than anything, we got to spend some quality time together, which was much needed. Ian got to reconnect with his college buddies for a weekend and do a little gambling in Tunica, so it was great. I don't know if I can handle two weeks away from the kiddos again, though! I may have to re-think this ten year anniversary trip to Italy that we're planning for next spring.

For Halloween Maggie was a fortune teller and Lucy was a mermaid. Maggie saw a fortune teller costume in a magazine that was pretty pricey so we set out to make a costume like it out of things we already had. I ended up spending about $10 on some fabric and that was it. I thought it turned out pretty cute and she loved it. Lucy has wanted to be a mermaid since last Halloween so the first mermaid costume I saw, I snatched it up. We had two feet of snow here in Parker in the days prior to Halloween so it had started melting by Halloween and it was a very wet, slushy night. Lucy kept falling down so she got pretty wet. It didn't slow her down though! She was running as fast as she could to catch up with the big kids. We spent the evening across the street with friends for their annual fall party, then out into the neighborhood for trick-or-treating. After the kids were all sugared up we all went next door to our friend's and let the kids run wild in their basement and we enjoyed some post trick-or-treating adult beverages!

Lucy has started a gymnastics class and she loves it. She is so sly - she's always cutting in line in front of some poor kid that is oblivious to what she's doing. Somehow she always ends up at the front of the line after she's just had her turn. It's pretty cute. Maggie's fall basketball season has started up again and so far they have won their games. They don't really keep score but they always make more baskets than the other team. Basketball is the one sport that she enjoys more than anything and she's not afraid to be aggressive. I'm very proud of both my girls! Unlike me, they are always so eager to try fun things and new activities.