Back to Reality and Girls Weekend Part 2

One of the best parts of being out of town is coming home and getting back into the groove. So before I show you more of my pictures from Branson, I wanted to show you what life was like when I got back.

Monday night, we had Adam's Parents-As-Teachers teacher come over and she was very impressed at how much more Adam is talking and stringing words together. His motor skills are also very advanced. He's getting to be such a big boy. Lately he is really showing his independence and saying things like "You da boss" (that's supposed to be an insult) and "You da bad guy!"

After that, we had a parent-teacher conference at Adam's day care to talk to his teacher about how he was doing in the month since he has been there. He's still crying, but not as much as he was, so I think we're making progress. We think he just needs a better sense of security to know that we'll be coming back to get him. So we're working on that. We brought his blankie (a Patriots blanket from Aunt Jess - he loves that blanket) on Tuesday for security and it was his best day yet.

Tuesday night Abby had Girl Scouts. This is Abby (and Maya) working on a project last night. You'll notice the expertly-ironed-on patches on Abby's apron. I am a regular Susie Homemaker. Not really, because I had to completely undo one of the patches on her back because it was totally crooked. Seth said I should just have my mom do it, but I remained calm and patient and eventually got it done. Yay for me.

On Wednesday, we had Abby's parent-teacher conference at the day care. Her day care teacher and her teacher at school said basically the same things, which was good. Abby's reading is by far above where she should be, which is great. We're very proud of her.

So, it's been a busy week so far.

It was nice to know when I got back on Sunday, though, that life was just as I left it. Here is Seth watching football Sunday afternoon.

Abby doing homework after her shower.

Adam "swimming" in the bathtub.

And now to Girls Weekend. My girlfriends from college and I have never gone on a weekend away together. (Only one person was missing - Amy!) It was so nice to get together and spend time together like we used to be able to do when we were younger. Johanna's parents have a timeshare and gave us their condo at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, Mo., for the weekend. We went to dinner Friday night at one of the restaurants at the lodge called The Devil's Pool. Saturday we went to breakfast at the same place - delicious waffles. Saturday afternoon we went to Brandon Landing to shop and then to Tanger Outlet Mall. I got a head start on Christmas shopping and got a couple things for myself. Saturday night we went to dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant in Branson called The Bleu Olive. It was really good. And then we went back to our room and played board games (Trivial Pursuit and Loaded Questions) until 3 in the morning. Even though I felt kind of old since we didn't really go out to bars or stay out late, it was still really fun. We laughed and laughed and laughed. Here's a look...

Becky T. posing. She likes to do that.

Sydney posing by the fire.

Friday night at dinner - Becky T., Sydney, Johanna and me.

Johanna Saturday night. Let's just say she had a rough morning on Sunday.

Sydney almost shooting something out of her nose. (Syd, just be glad I didn't put this on Facebook.)

Becky and Jake being serious.

The view from our parking lot.

The tree at Branson Landing.

The beautiful view from where we had breakfast Saturday morning.

The girls at breakfast on Saturday morning. Becky T., me, Johanna, Sydney and Jake.

In the shuttle at Big Cedar. Jake, Johanna, Becky T., Sydney.

So, thank you girls for a fantastic time. I can't wait to do it again and I love you all very much. Perhaps Chicago next time since Sydney is likely moving there soon.

And now, back to reality. We don't have anything going on tomorrow night, but Seth plans to go watch football since I am again out of town Friday and Saturday and I have to pack, so it will still be busy. Friday I head to Houston for work (where it will be 80 degrees on Friday) and will be back Saturday night. This is my last trip for the year and hopefully the last time for a while that I have to leave Seth and the kids at home. Even when I'm having fun it's hard to be gone so much. It seems to come in phases though. Before I went to Detroit I hadn't traveled since April.

Anyway, that's enough. I'll post more after Houston.