Busy weekend

For a weekend without any plans, we managed to fill it up somehow. Saturday started off with a trip to a nearby village to start Calla's passport process. That's right, in 8 to 10 weeks, she'll be able to flee the country at a moment's notice. Always nice to have that option. In the meantime, we'll stay under the radar a little while longer.

After we returned home, Calla donned her butterfly costume and we headed to the local strip mall nearby for their pre-halloween festival. Candy walk (somehow, mom and dad ended up with all the candy (mostly mom) - funny how that works) with the local merchants, hay rides (we skipped) and then a row full of those inflatable bouncy things. My idea was just to walk around, but Calla saw all those kids having fun and wanted in. I looked for the one that seemed the most toddler friendly and then sat her in the doorway, thinking she'd be too freaked out by the bouncy mayhem. I mean, she's scared of the vacuum cleaner, and this bouncy thing is much louder and crazier. But no, she's fearless. Even though she can't actually jump herself, she was perfectly happy to sit on the side and let herself get bounced away. Eventually, she tried to walk around, but that was less successful an endeavor. At some point, she bounced herself back toward the entrance and I grabbed her, lest I was forced to bounce in myself and rescue her.

No pics of the bouncy house adventure, mostly because a) Joe had the camera and was too busy chatting up a colleague and missed it all; but also b) even if I had the camera, I was too focused on gripping the outside netting in terror and trying to scoot aside all overly aggressive bouncy 5-year olds.

Mama and the butterfly. I think she eventually figured out what this costume thing was about. I predict more requests to wear the costume this week - so more picture opportunities.


And yesterday, we carved a pumpkin, which Calla actually enjoyed. It was mostly Joe, of course, but Calla did take her turn in sticking her hands in the mess. And then she tried to eat the raw pumpkin. Better than the wood chips at the park, I guess.




It's Monday morning now, and I'm finishing up my coffee and the crossword puzzle (4 letter word for advantage?). Calla's at school (Puka) and Joe's at work. I have some work to do today too - started working for my former consulting firm doing nonprofit executive search work. It's not much, but it's paying for childcare... sort of. We're hoping that with time, this becomes a more financially viable endeavor. For now, I'm enjoying the change of pace twice a week. The black-capped chickadees found our feeder this weekend and I see a new bird out there now, too. If only they'd tell the hummingbirds about that feeder. So anyway, a quiet day in our little nest here in southern Illinois. Hope your week starts off well, too...