Back at it

I feel a bit sad that fall break has come and gone.  I was looking forward to it and it sped on by. I didn’t feel like I got as much time with Adam as I would like.  Lately I never get enough time with Adam!

We flew to California and had a great time adoring our grandchildren and visiting with Anna.  We took a few walks and read some books and played with legos.  I love just spending time with them, learning their routines and getting to know the kids a little better.  Braeden arrived on Saturday morning.  We went to Crepeville for brunch and to the Arboretum and library to walk around and soak in the beautiful day.  After naps/quiet time we went to Bobby Dazzler's, which is the best imaginable name for a pumpkin patch.  It was also pretty hot (there's sunny and then there's Central Valley In California Sunny).  We didn't stay too long, but it was a great place and Adam and I especially appreciated that so much of it was free.  A great place for families!

We had Papa Murphy's pizza and watched the BYU football game.  Adam took Emma and me back to our hotels during halftime, because we aren't very good BYU football fans.

(One hassle of the trip was that we were in separate hotels, but one car rental.  It was not an insurmountable obstacle, but a hassle.)

Sunday we all went to church and both Adam and Braeden were not happy with me during sacrament meeting because QE and I weren't being as quiet as we could be.  She had a notebook and markers and she was having me draw things, but she had notes and sometimes the notes got louder than Braeden (or Adam) approved of.

They had their primary program practice and I stayed to watch it.  I loved it.  They are a very small but mighty group.  Anna is the chorister and does a great job.  Braeden said I had a professional interest in watching and he wasn't wrong.  I mostly loved hearing QE's little voice belt out the songs.  She is a gem.

Her little brother got a little homesick for his mother so I took him out in the foyer and we had a good time looking at all the pictures and rattling my mint container.

We had lunch at Braeden and Anna's and Geri and Talia joined us.  We happily spent a little time with them, then Emma and Mark and I went to the airport.  Adam stayed in California to drive back to Utah with his mom.  Adam was very concerned that I know how to get to the airport; he described it all in case my phone directions didn't work.  He outlined where we'd parked at the SLC airport.  Mark reassured him that he would manage my luggage.  I think Emma was a little fed up with the entire thing and she said I was a Passenger Princess.  It's true.  Traveling with Adam has made me a spoiled brat (and I'm also not great with directions).

Mark told Emma that I preferred Embarking Empress to Passenger Princess.

I guess I will answer to either.  Really, I just prefer traveling with Adam.

Monday was a teacher work day.  The school felt like a ghost town.  My team and I met in the morning and updated our curriculum map and planned a writing project for December (which made us feel really prepared and sassy).

We invited our 5th grade friends and Nicole and Jamie and we all took a (much much) longer than our typical 30 minute lunch break at Tru Religion.  I got pumpkin French toast and I will be thinking about it for a long time.  I really loved that it wasn't too too sweet.  I mean, it still seemed like a dessert rather than a lunch, but it wasn't overly sweet.  My friends were all supportive of it as a choice and no one saw the irony in me getting a Diet Coke.  As Lacey said, "Imagine how much more virtuous you are than if you got a regular Coke!"

So true.

I got a lot done in the afternoon, even mundane organizing tasks.  I am ready to see my cute students again today!