At Home and Away

These last 2 weeks have been full of things for which I'm thankful:
1) Grabill Fair & no garage sale (This was 2 weeks ago. I had thought about having a garage sale during this time to get rid of some extra things. I'm so glad I decided not to and was just able to enjoy the fair. The weather was rainy on Thursday night when we went to watch our church praise band perform but we still had a good time. Also enjoyed two meals at the fair--too bad they didn't agree with me :/)
2) Laura Ingalls Wilder (Nora and I had started to read Little House in the Big Woods--yes, she's about 5 years too young for this!! The only thing she understands is she likes the little girl and she likes her name "Laura!" I found out that the house she lived her adult life in was on the way to our family vacation in Branson so I just had to take a detour to see it! We had left home at 12:30am so were very tired when we rolled into Mansfield, MO at 10. Josh and Megan stayed in the car to sleep while Nora, Penny, and I went to the museum and home in search of "Laura!" We never did find her ;) but Nora still had a good time and so did I!)
3) Stormy Point Village (this was the awesome place that we stayed while in Branson. It was a complete neighborhood of these cute houses--all very similar with different colors and windvanes :) Ours had 3 bedrooms that we shared with the Klea's. Our family of 4 were all in the biggest room on the main floor. We had a nice bathroom that also connected--with jets!--a cute kitchen, dining room, tv room, little porch, and two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. We also had a little laundry room which was used daily!)
4) awesome sleep for the most part (Nora can sleep thru anything at night--including many babies crying and people talking. But I was disappointed in her naps--they were pretty non-existant. Also it was a little difficult dealing with the hour difference because bedtime and mealtimes always got pushed back.
5) A nice birthday (we spent the warm, sunny day on the lake--Tablerock Lake--it was huge! We rented a pontoon and also had brought our jet skis from home. In the evening, Josh and I got to go on a date to Fuddruckers--a got a free birthday burger--and Coldstone for dessert. Also the next day we celebrated with an ice cream cake from Maggie Moos!)
6) Silver Dollar City (we got a 2 day pass to this great theme park. The three roller coasters were fun--and had practically no line because the weather had turned cold/rainy and it was mid-September. They also had some great kid rides--although Nora was 3 inches too short for most of them. She's already a dare-devil!! Not so fun was the tantrum Nora threw the second day we were there--everyone was looking at us as we strapped her in her stroller and tried to leave as quickly as possible. I couldn't blame her--she had been up since 5:30 (maybe?) and it felt like 2:00 to her and she hadn't had lunch.
7) A Duck Ride (I think I'd done one of these in Boston awhile ago but it was fun in Branson too. It was a cold, rainy day so we were thankful that there were plastic side windows that kept it feeling okay. We drove up the highest point in the area and learned about the dam and other things before racing into the water!! We also got to steer once in the lake. We all got duck whistles but are thankful that Nora couldn't quite figure her's out!)
8) Coming home (It's so nice to come home--even from an enjoyable vacation. And vacations are definately different when you have young kids!! I think it was good for the girls to be back in their beds and schedule. Nora has still not slept well this whole week and has had many behavior problems because of this)
9) More Feed Mill hours (I'm reminding myself this is something to be thankful for. Josh is getting more daytime hours while still doing his evening shift. This is good for the check it will bring but not so good for being able to see each other! On Tuesday, he worked 12.5 hours--that was a long day for me!)
10) Wading for maybe the last time this year (Tuesday night, we went to the pond to play in the water. This time, I came prepared with bathing suits! Nora enjoyed the cooler water and so did Penny. It was nice to get out there for one of the last warm days and not worry about the clock)