Friday, October 28, 2016

Ghosts in the Oaks (last week)

Not far back, I purchased some tickets to Ghosts in the Oaks, a fund-raising event at City Park in New Orleans. It fell on the same weekend as the church's Trunk-or-Treat shindig, but in my experience with my own past of Trunk-or-Treating, this was a must. Zac got off work early on Friday, so we arrived at Sean's (and Kyle's, I guess, since they live together now) before the kids' bedtimes. Sean's friend, Lauren, was visiting so we played the Werewolf game a few times before she went home.

I forgot to bring my tea, so I struggled through a cup of coffee Saturday morning. It's crazy how much I loved coffee until I switched to tea. Now, I can barely drink it without making a face. We hung out with the guys and watched Daddy's Home. Zac and I live under a big rock in the woods, so we're unaware of any and all current movies that aren't animated or child-friendly.

We headed across the lake around 6ish, dressed in our costumes, getting a few strange looks from other drivers. I promised the kids they could color their hair, so Zac picked up some spray dye. Leah picked blue, Jac picked green, and I brought them outside for a spray-fest.


We made it to the Oaks and were greeted by a witchy cackle and a fog machine. There were carnival rides, so the big kids wanted to get started on riding things before Trick-or-Treating. Leah was more excited to try the "scary" rides than Jac was. They were both on the Rockin' Tug, but you can't see the very apprehensive Jac hiding in the shadows next to Leah. We picked out some mini pumpkins from the pumpkin patch, then went Trick-or-Treating through a storybook forest. Jac wasn't wanting to ride much, but I convinced him that trying new things was a good idea, so he, along with Zac and Leah, went on the Drop Tower (and he LOVED it!), but freaked out on the Music Express and I had to wave an attendant down to help him get off midway. Poor thing. Leah was in tears for what I thought was fear, but she was upset that the ride stopped. We ended with a carousel ride since Elias was too small to do much, and headed back to Sean's.


We went to Slidell on Sunday to meet up with Ashton, and I traded some gifts with him. I hadn't seen him since 2010 at the kiddos' birthday party. Jeez. We walked around Michael's and I found some cute pumpkin things, then we parted ways and went back to Sean's. We stayed an extra night, instead of coming back to Mississippi Sunday night, we came back early Monday morning. The kids did their lesson, Zac went to work, and I unpacked all our things. Back to the grind.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

The Park

The weather has been so pleasant lately! We've been trying to get outside more, so we took the kids to the park behind the library on Sunday. 

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Dark and Light

It's been an up-and-down week. Wednesday was rough. Three years have passed since the miscarriage and I'm sometimes surprised how sad I still am, or not sad enough... I dunno. I cried and ate candy. Emily came over and brought a beautiful anniversary gift for Zac and me. I also managed to snag another solo for the Christmas cantata at church this year.


Mom kept the kids Thursday evening, so Zac took me to Outback for dinner. Just us. I don't remember the last time we had a date without the kids coming along. More than two years, I'm sure. We had a fantastic server named John, who paid for our dessert. He was so kind. Zac and I were going to stay out a little later after dinner, but we were just so tired and wanted to get our pajamas on, hah! We've been married for ten whole years. It's hard to believe so much time has passed when it still feels like we just got together a few months ago. 


We finally went for a walk around the neighborhood with the dogs in tow. My knee is not completely healed, but I can manage without my crutches. Riding my bike is something I'm still unsure about, but the walking is nice. I don't think I've talked about my knee since it happened, but it's almost completely back to normal. I can stand in the shower, climb the stairs, and get around like usual. Going downstairs is a little awkward because of the sudden weight, but it's getting better. It's a huge relief to be off the crutches, though. Anyway, we took a walk and I collected a few leaves in different shades of color, as well as a perfect pine cone and acorn.


We went to Fernando's for dinner since the kids eat free on Saturdays. I forgot to bring baby food, so Elias ate his first enchilada. The kids were on their best behavior (as almost always) and we had a nice evening together without spills or quarrels or crying. Phew!


Sunday, October 9, 2016

Pumpkins Galore

We finally made it out to Party City to buy costumes for the kiddos. They've agreed to go with the Nightmare Before Christmas theme as Lock, Shock, and Barrel since Zac and I will be Jack and Sally (again). Bath & Body Works has everything pumpkin happening, so of course we stopped in to smell all the things. Even though it won't be hashtagged, the big kids insisted on being pumpkins anyway.


We woke up late this morning, but headed to church to meet up with the children's group and drove to a pumpkin patch about half an hour from where we live. We went on a hay ride and saw some animals. Leah really liked the "zedonk" and Jac liked the bulls. Elias wanted to pet the Bactrian camel and eat the corn from the cornbox. We had fun! Each of us picked our own pumpkins so the front porch is looking festive and lovely. It still needs some lights, though. If only autumn was permanent.