We're Back!

We're back - did you miss us? We spent Thursday - Sunday in New Hampshire with Lou & Margaret. We had a lovely time as always... the highlights include:

- took a trip on the Conway scenic railroad - the kids loved this one, as you can imagine. It even stopped at a pumpkin patch so that all the kids on board could pick out pumpkins (which, by the way, brings our current total to 5 pumpkins, plus 2 more we expect to get at a party on Wednesday)

- Chad took the kids to a lake to play and get wet and filthy dirty, while Margaret and I hit the nearby outlets. I really, really needed some winter tops, and ultimately, I found a few. It took a while though... I must have tried on something like 10 shirts that didn't fit right, and by the end I was basically trying on everything that was long-sleeved and within my price range (ie, cheap!), hoping that something would look good.

- went to a farm that had this whole Halloween extravaganza going on... a huge corn maze that took us 30 minutes to get through (Brandon was our "trail blazer" and did an amazing job of navigating... clearly he inherited his father's sense of direction); a train ride for the kids, where they sat in cow-shaped cars and were pulled around by a tractor; a corn box, which is just a huge sandbox filled with corn kernels; and a bunch of barnyard animals for the kids to feed. It was really fun, although it was chilly that day. We were forced to go directly out for beer and pizza afterwards to warm up. Although the kids skipped the beer part. Lightweights.

- had lots of yummy meals, courtesy of Lou & Margaret. Chad was overjoyed that Lou made him ribs our first night there, and it turned out that the boys loved them, too. And lest you are concerned that I went hungry that night, Margaret and I had baked haddock - yum!

- funniest moment of the weekend was when Chad and I went to check on the boys while they were sleeping, and we found Parker curled up on the suitcase that was laying on the floor by his bed... did he purposely crawl there? wasn't he freezing without blankets? was it really comfortable to sleep on a big empty suitcase? Inquiring minds want to know. As it was our last night there, we just assumed that it was his way of telling us that he was ready to go home. Or he was afraid of being left behind and figured he'd just camp out on the suitcase to secure his spot.

So, it was a very nice weekend, and we are all unpacked, multiple loads of laundry completed, and settled back in. It was gorgeous here today - 70 and sunny - so I even got in a bike ride. Good stuff - always feels like a stolen moment when you get a day this beautiful this late in October. Sadly, today also marks the end of Chad's vacation week - I know the boys and I will miss him tomorrow, as we've gotten spoiled having him with us every day. Anyway, as nice as it was to go on a trip, it's also nice to be back home again!