Happy Halloween!!

We had a rockin' Halloween!!

Emerson & I at her preschool Halloween party 

It started off with Emerson's preschool Halloween party on the 30th.  I volunteered in her classroom that day and we had a blast!  The party planning committee did a great job putting together the party.  There were numerous craft stations, a decorate your own mini-pumpkin station (the mini-pumpkin was a Christmas orange!), decorate a Halloween cookie station and a bean bag toss!  And of course a delicious pot luck!  I love this preschool :)  So well organized and even though there are volunteer commitments and slightly higher fees, it is all so worth it!  Em LOVES preschool and her teachers, which is so awesome!  She's so bubbly and talkative and cooperative and Mrs. York and Mrs. Chong have told both Cal and I many times that she is such a good classmate and friend to her peers, which is so awesome to hear!

Blake & I at his KG party

On the 31st, I volunteered in Blake's classroom for his Halloween party!  We had a lot of fun!  I wore my pink Crayon costume and coincidentally, Mme. Monique was dressed up as a blue crayon!  During the parade through the classrooms everyone kept asking us if we'd planned our costumes.  We didn't but it sure looked like we did!!  I enjoyed my morning in Blake's class.  The kids are all so sweet and Halloween is such a fun time, you can't help but get swept up in the children's excitement!!

Our dragon, puppy dog & ninja

This year Halloween Day was quite chilly.  I don't remember the last time it was this cold on Halloween.  But the kids were very excited to go trick or treating and thankfully we could fit quite a few layers under all of their costumes (in fact, Reese was sweating when Cal took her costume off!)!  So we bundled up and headed out!!  We stopped at most of the houses on our block and then the kids jumped in the wagon and we ran as fast as we could to the Parenteau's neighbourhood!  We were hoping to get some protection from the wind in one of the crescents but it didn't happen!  The girls visited a few more houses and decided to head back home with Cal.  Blake and I continued on with Eric, Christa and Berlyn.  Blake was getting quite cold but he did not want to stop!!  The Parenteau's headed home and we started in the direction of our house.  Blake kept saying, "Only 3 more houses, Mom!"  But would see some cool decorations and say, "And that one, Mom!"  lol!  He had quite the pumpkin full of candy!!  Finally a pee break was needed and we got home as fast as we could :)  I love Halloween, the excitement of the kids, the visiting with neighbours and friends, seeing all the adorable costumes, it's all just so much fun :) Can't wait for next year!!

We hope you had a fun and safe Halloween, too!!  And kept somewhat warm!!

xo
Cal, Tracy, Blake, Emerson and Reese

3 nights, 4 days

Closer to leaving for Denver, I started getting a bit worried about leaving our kids for 3 nights, well 4 really because we didn't get home until midnight Monday, and 4 days.  We keep a pretty close arm around their shoulders and I know we're kind of helicopter parents at times, but that's us.  They're not used to us leaving them, 99% of the time Cal and I are both home for bedtime, there's probably only 3 or 4 times in Blake's life that either Cal or I haven't put him to bed.  That's just how we roll!  I worried that Emerson would miss us, she can be quite a mommy and/or daddies girl.  She has matured emotionally so much over the past 6 months but still has her 'moments'!  Moments when it takes a special word, a special embrace, or just knowing her inside and out to calm her down and get her back to happy, bubbly Em!  I worried that Blake would worry.  He is such a worry-wart.  A week prior to us leaving he was asking all kinds of questions, "Why if it is only 4 hours away, can't you go to Peyton Manning's game and come home the next day?"  We told him the airplane ride was approx. 4 hours, which prompted the question.  "Where are you going to sleep?"  etc, etc.  And I worried Reese wouldn't sleep well and would be grumpy!  And I worried that asking someone to take care of our three kids for this long of a time was a bit much to ask of someone!!  There are days when I am overwhelmed, exhausted and have a hard time keeping up with all that needs/should be done, never mind someone who isn't used to the 24 hr/day chaos of 3 munchkins!!

But turns out everyone did well (although Reese did not sleep her best!).  My Mom said everything went better then she thought it would, which is fantastic!!  She got Blake dropped off at school on time, all the kids were super cooperative getting out the door (they always are, thankfully!), Dad took Blake to hockey on Sat and Sun, everyone went out for supper, Blake and Dad completed a tough Ninjago LEGO set, they played, shovelled snow, and had fun!  Sounds like they were on their best behaviour, thank goodness :)

We had a wonderful time in Denver!  We walked a lot, enjoyed numerous leisurely brunches, lunches, dinners and beverages!  We slept in, took naps, shopped and had a blast at the Bronco's game!!!  Our hotel with nice, our king size bed heavenly!!  Downtown Denver is very nice, we felt really safe and walked for blocks upon blocks, checking out the shops along the 16th street mall.  We also visited the Cherry Creek shopping district and mall, which was also very nice.  The mall was pretty normal but the outside shopping district was very nice.  A lot of upscale stores and a nice part of town.  And of course, we had to visit a Super Target!!  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, for our wallets) all our luggage was stuffed full and we didn't have enough room to do much shopping at Target ;)  It was fun to look though!!  We had a great time and some much needed R&R :)  We visited Mile High Stadium the first day we got there, just to see it, check out the Bronco's store, and figure out how to take the light rail there for the game!  Took us awhile to figure out the bus/train system and our first visit there we took a really round about way, but that's the fun of discovering a new city ;)  Game day was very exciting!  We headed to the stadium early and got to see some of the players walking in.  We hooked up with a friend of a friend at a tailgate party, which was cool!  Walking through all the tailgaters was fun too, people sure take their tailgating seriously!!!  It's awesome!  I wish we lived in an NFL city, it would be so much fun!!  Our seats were great, not super close to the field but not too high up either.  The Bronco's and Peyton Manning played awesome and kicked butt!  We saw Peyton throw 3 TD's!  The energy in the stadium was crazy, 76,000 screaming and cheering fans!  Can't wait to go to another game!!  We'd like to go to Indianapolis if there's ever a Colts vs Bronco's game!  Cal's still a big Indy fan and an Andrew Luck fan, so it would be pretty cool.  I'd like to fly in to Chicago, see a baseball game there and drive to Indy but not sure if we'd be able to pull that off!!  We'll see!

We facetimed with the kids a few times.  And they wanted to see our hotel, etc, so I sent some pics via text to my Mom!!  They missed us, it was really sweet to see their smiles and feel their tight hugs when we got home!  We went in to check on Blake and Em and they woke up and gave us big hugs :)  Reese woke up not long after we got home, so we got to give her a big hug too!!  It felt like we were gone for a good amount of time!  Not too long, I really don't know if I could leave them for a week.  I wouldn't want to try, at least not yet!

Thank you SOOOOO much to my parents for taking care of the kids so we could get away.  We really, really appreciate it and we are so very grateful for your help, love and support!  We'll let you re-charge your batteries for a year or so and might hit ya up again for a few nights ;)  Ha, ha ha!!!

Next up, Halloween!!  I'm volunteering in Emerson's class tomorrow morning and in Blake's class on Halloween Day.  Looking forward to it!  Talk to you soon :)

xo
Tracy