Trick-or-treat and Retreat

Halloween was another fun year.  We hit the neighborhood with 3 other families and had a great time.  The weather was cold and rainy, but did you know they give out candy at each house?  What a motivator for these kids!  One of the houses in our neighborhood gave us ‘adult treats’ (a cold can of beer in a brown paper bag!).  I really enjoy the neighborhood on Halloween when everyone is out at the same time.

 

Meredith dressed up as a hula girl this year.  Probably the easiest costume we’ve done so far.  She looked cute, as usual.

 

Frank’s been out of town a lot in the past 2 months- he was in Florida for a week, Poland for a week, and Dayton over trick-or-treat for a few days.  That combined with my new full time work schedule and what seems like a million fun fall activities has made me tired and a bit stressed.  On top of that, Meredith has been regressing a little bit- her sleep is all off, throwing some fits, eating differently, having accidents.  I’m still trying to navigate scheduling everything.  We’ll fall into a rhythm over time, and it's getting better each day.
 

To help jumpstart that rhythm, we retreated.  My friend Dena from college had a baby boy about 3 months ago and I wanted to go to see them.  We stayed with Angie, Brian and Allison (went to college with Angie), and Jenny (also a college friend) came too.  Although the prep for the trip was additional stress, I felt we needed to get away.  Meredith got more undivided attention and we were away from the distractions of home.  We had a great time.  Meredith and Allison were best buddies from the start, I got in some good girl time (poor Brian had to put up with us all weekend), and we got to see Dena and baby.  Meredith had such a good time that she and Allison were both in tears when we had to leave.

 

 

Well, Meredith's birthday is tomorrow already, so next up all about her 7th birthday party.  I'm still recovering, but should be able to post soon!