Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! We can't believe it's the end of October already! We've been keeping busy the past couple of weeks. The weekend before last we had a nice, restful couple of days. Natalie and Owen went to the babysitting program at school on Saturday night, and after finishing the normal household chores (including cleaning, which Owen enjoys helping with by pushing the broom around) on Sunday we went to the playground. We've had much cooler weather, so we were able to bear being there longer than 15 minutes. We spent last week gearing up for the Halloween Carnival at school, which was Friday night. We went and had a lot of fun. The band was Owen's favorite part - he preferred to stand by the stage and dance, and there were various activity booths, rides, and a fun house. Natalie and Owen were excited to wear their costumes, and Mom and Dad dressed up too - although there are no pictures of this (as planned?). After we left the carnival Friday night we started on our last minute trip (driving) to North Carolina to visit Pa (and the rest of the family!) as we haven't been there in a year and his health is failing. The trip was 20 hours there on Friday/Saturday, and we left early Monday for a 21 hour drive home. Natalie, Owen, and Henry were so good with all this driving! We had a nice visit with everyone, although it was very short. Natalie and Owen had fun playing with the toys at Grandma Phyllis' house, and they entertained themselves with their backpacks at Gram and Pa's. We've been getting back into the swing of things. Natalie (Rapunzel) and Owen (Frankenstein) went trick or treating tonight, and Henry (little bat) dressed up for pictures and answering the door with Mom.