home again!

We made it back home again yesterday! We had a great trip! Here's the recap...

Monday -

It was a beautiful day... in the 70's. The kids played outside most of the morning. Alex rode his bike... Clara rode her bike some and played fetch with the dog....
The plan was to head out to a nearby outlet mall to do some shopping right after lunch. HOWEVER, Clara wiped out on her bike right before we had planned to leave and scraped herself all down her side... from under her arm down to her thigh. So, we left the kids with my dad and mom and I went into Springfield by ourselves. We just stopped at a couple of places. We went to a educational toy/teacher supply store to get the kids some math workbooks. I got Clara another book of dot-to-dots since she's been enjoying them so and I got Alex a third grade multiplication workbook. We went to Talbots but for once, walked out without buying anything.

We came home to find the kids in the brush pile selecting sticks for a bonfire....
This brush pile was just some of the downed limbs from the ice storm they had in Missouri last winter.
Like Clara's outfit? She opted for the "comfy pants" because of her scrapes after her fall earlier.

Once the sun started going down, we had a bonfire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows on sticks. It was so nice to sit on hay bales out by the fire.

Tuesday -

We finally made it to the outlet mall in the morning to get Alex stocked back up on jeans. That boy has grown! All of his jeans were too short AGAIN!!! We had lunch and then drove back into Springfield. This time we were on the hunt for my Christmas present.... comfy city walking shoes. There was a point in time when I wouldn't wear anything but backless shoes.... city living has changed that. With the amount of walking that we do on a daily basis... I need good sturdy shoes. I ended up with Keen Presidios in Midnight Navy and I LOVE them! I got hooked on Keens this summer with my sandals.

Wednesday -

I have no clue what we did that day... I don't think we did much of anything, but I could be wrong. That night we went to a basketball game at MSU. It was the kids' first basketball game and they LOVED it!!! Alex really got into the game and Clara was enthralled with the Sugar Bears and the cheerleaders.

Thursday -

Thanksgiving! And what's Thanksgiving unless someone is throwing up... and this year the big winner was Clara. At about 5:20 am, Alex came upstairs to tell us that Clara had just thrown up... fun! So, we got up, got her cleaned up and went back to bed for about 40 minutes before we had to get up because we had signed up to do the Turkey Trot in Springfield on Thanksgiving morning. Originally we were all going to do it (us four and my mom and dad) but with the projected temps being in the 20's my parents and Clara had already opted out even before Clara's little early morning surprise. So, Jeff, Alex and I got dressed and got ready to go.

Here's Alex, ready to race....
Jeff ran, I walked and we had planned that Alex could do whatever combo of running and walking he wanted to do. However, he opted to walk with me... especially since a lot of the walkers had their dogs with them. Once he spotted a pug, we had found our walking partners and running was not at all on his radar. We had a great time together though! I think we may make this a tradition! :-)

After we got home and got cleaned up, we went to my grandmother's house for Thanksgiving dinner.

Friday -

No Black Friday shopping for us! There is just nothing I need that badly! LOL! Mom and I did go to town but not to the big busy places... just a little strip mall where mom had to pick up some bread and a brisket for the next day. I got several little stocking stuffers for the kids, so it was a very productive outing for me.

Saturday -

Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family at my mom and dad's house. Smaller crowd than usual, but it was really nice. Dad got out their old slide projector and we all sat around after dinner watching slides of holidays past. It was a great time.

Sunday -
A full day of driving in cold rainy weather! It was pretty yucky but we made it!!

Well... if you're still awake after getting through all of that... congratulations! :-)

I'm heading to the couch!

'nite!!