A Halloween to Remember

Ronda and Landon got on the train in Pasco, WA Friday night around 6:30 p.m. We had made arrangements for Kyndra and Avery to ride the train with them from West Glacier Park to Browning. Last minute, Jaida and I decided to jump on-board and Tony was our chauffeur to the depot in West Glacier where we met Ronda and Landon at about 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning.

Amtrak is awesome! The seats are soft and practically lay back and we couldn't believe how quiet the ride was. We spent a good part of the ride in the observatory car where we had a front seat view of the fall show of colors in Glacier Park.

Kyndra, Avery, and Landon didn't miss a beat. They picked up right where they left off when we lived in Pendleton. It was good for my heart to see these kids so happy together playing violins, dreaming up projects, and just playing...just playing together.

Not completly by design all three of our kids were pirates. They had more fun with the neighbor kids dressing up all weekend and were more than ready to go by the time Halloween actually rolled around.

We were invted to head to "the other side of town" to trick-or-treat with my old friend Pat and his kids. What a crew! I think we lasted about an hour and a half in the wind and headed home to dump the candy and sort through the booty.

Ronda and Landon got on the train last night at 11:30 p.m. and are now home in their own beds.
It's over...I can't believe their visit went so fast. We didn't really do anything horribly exciting...painted a bathroom, drove around the country a little, played, went to school, cooked, and drank some wine. These are all the things we have always done together and it was just good for my soul to have them here with us for any amount of time.
Thank you Ronda and Landon. We love you and can't wait for your next visit.

My Hero

Ronda had to go to work today...yes on Sunday...to get her computers ready for tomorrow. She had a frustrating morning and had an urge to get her hands on some paper product. She sat and read Japanese and put together this TINY drawer set. She is sooo multi-talented it just amazes me. Thank you! It is perched on Avery's dresser right now awaiting some tiny treasures.

Carnival

Ronda has been working at West Park this week with one of my favorite teachers. She is so much fun, loads of laughs, you can tell she loves her job, just loves life in general. Ronda moves her dog and pony show to a new school every week, and like a cameleon, she instantly becomes one of the staff. Early in the week she asked if I wanted to go to West Park's annual carnival....sounded good to me.

I picked up the three kids and met Ronda in Hermiston, Joe was in Umatilla and came over after work. We were there about a half an hour early and so the kids had time to go in the bouncy castle before anyone else arrived. Avery and Landon jumped right and started jumping. Kyndra "didn't want to" (big surprise). So, being the kind and understanding mom that I am, I took off her kitty boots and threw her in. Ronda, being the kind and understanding friend that she is, held the net closed as Kyndra screamed to be let out. I went and vented to Brenda who also had a Velcro child (he has grown out of it, there is hope). Meanwhile, Mr. Pratt, the principal took a running dive into the castle and proceeded to be a kid with our three kiddos. What a guy.

I started running around the castle and having Kyndra chase me inside. I'd run and pop my head in a window and she would run across the middle. It worked! Soon she was jumping with Landon and Avery. This is just how she is wired there is nothing to do about it except love her for who she is. I truly believe that sometimes, not every time, it is good for me to throw her into situations. I try to be sensitive to my sensitive child but do feel like she needs a nudge now and then.

The three kids had fun going around to the various carnival games and got lots of CPC (cheap plastic....stuff) for Joe's geocaching boxes. Avery did the alphabet walk later and said that was her favorite one! We are so, so lucky to be a part of the community of so many great schools. I believe that is the best part of our job!