Harrison's Newest Word

"Chop"

then he signs "more.."

"Chop" [more!]

Fall Leaves

This morning as part of the worldwide day of service through the church we were assigned a home to go and rake leaves. The whole family was able to participate and we ended up at a small yard where there was only about an hour's worth of work. We enjoyed meeting the nice lady though and she was very grateful for the help.

Afterward we went home and played with our own leaves... and leaves there are! The kids and I made a big pile at the bottom of the slide to jump and slide into. Lincoln was more interested in creating a clear path that would all around the yard.

We were mostly just

playing around, not too serious about getting the leaves taken care of because we have a lawn service. Soon though, the neighbor offered Jeff the use of his lawn tractor with a leaf catcher attachment. They spent about an hour with is and the whole thing was all cleaned up! I'm sure it will need doing again in a few weeks. Great day!

Indy Trip

After my parents visited us (a reat treat!) they headed to Indianapolis to visit my dad's mom and brother. When the rest of the siblings heard he was coming they all decided to head that way as well. Not one to miss a party, I rode along.

It had been too long since I'd seen grandma and it is always fun to be with family. Jeff was a trooper to play Mr. Mom for a few days so that I could take this trip. Grandma's home had a lot of beautiful improvements since I had been there last and she is always a delight to spend time with. She might just be the kindest person I've ever met.

We spent several enjoyable evenings out, but I was really bad about taking pictures. We ate at an old library one night and I took a few. Grandma was full of emotion - delight at being with all of her wonderful children and some sadness knowing that grandpa would love to have been there with us as well.

Since I had a one way ride I decided to be cheap and take the bus/train home. That didn't turn out so great, but it was definitely an adventure! The bus left nearly two hours late so I missed my connecting train in Chicago. I also learned in Chicago that the stations were in different locations. I had to walk to the train station to get a refund on my ticket. On my way there I noticed a lady from the bus that was waiting for a taxi and looking distraught. She had lots of luggage and no cash (the ATM at the bus stop wasn't working). I told her I was headed in the same direction and would love someone to walk with. I was happy to pull one of her bags so that it was manageable. She was a 53 year old business woman who had recently had surgery on her eye and was unable to fly. She was headed all the way to Florida and this would delay her 48 hour trip an entire day. She was beyond frazzled!

We walked and found Union Station and got our ticket situations all worked out. The lady directed us to the nearest hotel so that she could wait to catch a new train the next day. I told her that I was walking with her no matter which direction it was. I didn't know how she would get all of her stuff there without me! By the time we got there she was so grateful that she hugged me and hugged me. We had to cross some crazy intersections (one an off ramp!) and go up and down stairs and a couple of times. I told her that I'd rather be on that adventure than sitting at the bus station like we had been for two hours and she agreed. It turned out that my subway station was just on the corner of that block and I was able to meet up with Jeff and the kids (who had driven down to meet me) outside of all of the crazy Chicago traffic. What a night!

When I woke up this morning there was a deer walking down the street in front of our house and I was grateful to live where we do and not in a busy city (though I really enjoy visiting them too!).

They're Here!

My mom and dad are here for a quick visit this week and we are having such fun with them around! Of course I wanted to take them to the Seven Bridges beach/hike area that I talked about on my mom's birthday and we tried to squeeze it in last night before it got dark. It was gorgeous in the fall. I had to smile when my mom mentioned that her own mom would love this place. I guess there is something about these woods that make you think of your mom. The kids were feeling adventurous and went off the beaten path a bit. Jeff took them on an "alternate" route (Lincoln heard "ultimate") and they ended up lost in the dark. They ended up in a private campground, but quickly found their way out where we could drive and pick them up. Afterward we got lost again (because of construction) trying to find our dinner spot. Poor Jeff tried to find 3 different Pho places which were all either gone or changed into Mexican. We finally settled on Chipotle!

We are all really enjoying our time together, just wish we weren't so busy with regular week activities.

Halloween

This year's halloween has been pretty low key. We had a fun evening at the trunk or treat on Thursday night and pretty much called it quits there. The city dictated that our trick or treating would be done on Sunday, so we decided not to participate. The kids had fall parties at school last week and Harrison had a halloween playgroup day. The actual day of Halloween didn't feel like Halloween at all.