Day 53 - Megan's turn....

I forgot to take a picture, but it was Megan's turn today for a haircut. Sarah loves to get her haircut short, walk into the bathroom and SEE that it is noticeably different. Key word being NOTICEABLE! Sounds like Sarah doesn't it?! *smiles* Megan is just like me when I was her age; knows it needs to be trimmed, but wants it to remain as long as possible. :) In the end I think I cut a couple of inches off, but I think she's OK with it. Last summer she went to the hairdressers and hated the cut, so wanted me to do my usual, very simple, straight across cut. We'll have to venture to another salon one of these days though as I'm not good! :)

We had another full day of school. Knowing Daddy will be home soon to play and explore keeps up encouraged to press on through our studies together. I love homeschooling! What an amazing experience this has been.

Once school was done we played lots of games again and got out for a walk around the neighborhood too. :)

It's been so refreshing to have the TV off and spending genuine time together playing games, laughing, crafting & cooking...

Megan put in the final piece today!! :)

A Hundred Chickens and a Worm Puzzle - completed.

Day 52 - a *summer* haircut :)

Today we puttered through school. Lots of breaks, lots of puzzle time, snacks, Daddy's phone calls..... but we were done shortly after lunch and then Sarah decided she'd like her hair cut short again. So... that's what we did. ☺

After supper we played our daily dose of Catan, then made popcorn, snuggled on the couch & watched Survivor (via the internet) together.

Had to include this Sarah shot! So genuinely her!!!

I must have the A/C on too high as I told her I'd take a picture and her reply, "OK, but let's go outside and take it so I'm warmer!" Haha.

☀

Is that the Clunas head-tilt I see?!

Thought we may as well share another puzzle update. What a great bargain for $9!! Megan & Joshua have spent so much time on this... will have to pick up another one for next time Daddy is away. We're down to mostly white pieces with legs! So whenever anyone clicks in a piece you'll hear a hoot & holler... bet it'll be done tomorrow.

Day 51 - A Quiet day.

It's interesting how quiet the days become when Daddy is away. The pool is still, more games are pulled out... and everyone just waits for the countdown to hit '0'!

Not too much happened today.... school, games and quite a bit progress on the puzzle :) The heat is still high this week as we hit around 35 or so. The pool is quite cool now though with it not being heated and the evenings cooling off.

Still need to try and get those kids in there; perhaps over the weekend we'll turn the hot-tub on and at least get wet!

Another game of Catan!!

A blurry shot of the puzzle.... almost done - wow, that's a really bad photo. :)

Day 50 - A new puzzle

Today's main focus was school. The kids had a few days of either no or very little school to enjoy time with Grandma & Grandpa so today they were back at it and a little deeper than normal! They did great though and we got through the work that needed to get done, even a little extra! We're planning on traveling next time David is home as we leave Havasu (*sniff, sniff*) on November 21st. So we need to plug away at school this week. Megan & I found a great puzzle at Walamart so we decided to open it up once we got through school and work on it this week. I love having a puzzle out to slowly pick away at. It usually reminds me of Christmas time, and I guess we are getting close now aren't we... 7 weeks away!

We are loving this cute series and have "One hundred cats and a dog" on our wish list! :)

Sarah was great at searching for all those straight-edged pieces.

Megan stayed up with me tonight which was nice. She had to work through another math lesson and one of her favorite shows (Cake Boss) was on at 9pm so I let her hang with me.

Love those little special moments.

♥

Day 49 - Another tough goodbye

We enjoyed a yummy family breakfast this morning - Mickey pancakes and double-smoked deli bacon (YUM!). School was being put off until the afternoon so the kids could squeeze in as much time with Daddy as possible. Everyone's heart was heavy as we knew the goodbyes were coming. David, Joshua & Sarah played in the pool, Megan played poolside. We had pizza for lunch out at the palapa and then played a game of Rummikub. We packed up some containers of clothes we weren't using so David could take them back to Mac with him. We were CRAMMED coming here and with buying a few items knew we weren't going to fit if he didn't take a few things back with him! :)

He pulled out about 2pm - lots of hugs and kisses and buckets of tears as the kids waved from the driveway chalked up with goodbye messages and then ran to the backyard to catch a glimpse of the truck as it drove down the road. Commuting is so hard.

We came back in the house and did some clean up to get our minds off of our sadness, did some schoolwork, played a long game of Catan and after dinner watched 18kids and counting together.

Counting the sleeps until you're home!!

Day 48 - Saying goodbye & family time

With Grandma & Grandpa leaving today we decided not to do school and instead spend the time together. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast together and took a few photos out at the pool. Grandpa & Grandma pulled out about 10am as they were planning on doing a little sight-seeing before they're return to Las Vegas for the night and an early morning flight.

To get everyone's mind off of goodbyes & teardrops, we decided to head down to the lake for a walk and then to Albertson's to pick up some groceries (and ICE CREAM!!). We enjoyed a nice family walk down on the other side of London Bridge. We had another beautiful day, and enjoyed some family time. Once home, David fired up the BBQ (again!!) for some lunch. Mmmm. After lunch Daddy, Joshua & Sarah played in the pool while Megan and I went out to do a bit more grocery shopping for our week at home alone. (Daddy leaves tomorrow *sniff, sniff*). David made the kids Orange Julius' and us some blended iced coffees when we got home & we enjoyed hanging out on the deck with dips in the pool. The afternoon got away from us and before we knew it the sun was beginning to set and another amazing sunset filled the sky.

We played a family game of Catan and munched on grilled sandwiches for supper... treats & popcorn followed :) It took awhile to get the kids to bed as they wanted to soak up all the little moments with Daddy knowing he was leaving the next day. Joshua was in a wrestle mood all day -- filling up his "love tank" :)

Once the kids were in bed, we went out to the hot-tub for a bit, we will miss that next month as our next home doesn't have a hot-tub. The night before David leaves is always very sad... makes us realize we do not want to commute (even if that does mean Fort McMurray!!)... and... that makes me happy!

Doing the official height test... I think Megan has now passed Grandma!!

Thank-you for coming Grandma & Grandpa!! We love you.

Entrance at the London Bridge. We actually went into the visitors building and picked up a few brochures and chatted with the ladies in there :) Oh, and placed a pin in Fort McMurray on their map!

Little character/heritage buildings they have there.

This tree was really neat to look up into & count all the birds! How many can you find? :)

As we walked along the boardwalk we began to see some fish... and then we started to see some enormous fish!!! Check out the size of them! I have no idea what kind of fish that is - chubby :)

A stubby palm tree.

I can't seem to tire of this view. November 2nd, 33 degrees... amazing. I feel so blessed to be able to have this opportunity as a family, so blessed!

Day 47 - A lovely Sunday.

David was up this morning making Mennonite Pancakes for breakfast. I'm still not feeling 100% with this silly head cold, so it was nice to sleep in a wee bit and have breakfast made! After breakfast was the usual scramble to get out the door for church. We took Mom & Dad to the Alliance Church we've attended a few times now and it was nice at how everyone came over to let us know they missed us the last couple of weeks and introduced themselves to Mom & Dad.

The pool warmed up a bit (thanks to David figuring out a little trick with the buttons!!) and so everyone enjoyed an afternoon in or by the pool. Grandma, Megan and I slipped out for a little while to Megan's favorite store (or at least one of), Areopostale, to find her some pants!! :) SUCCESS! She will need those in a few weeks when we head to Utah.

Grandpa faithfully played Snakes & Ladders with the kids and it was cute to watch them play... game after game after game! Grandpa was a trooper!! :)

The BBQ was fired up again for a yummy chicken dinner. We've eaten most of our dinners out at the palapa, even though it's getting darker a lot sooner.

After supper we played a couple games of SkipBo with the kids before they went to bed and then us adults went out to enjoy the starry sky and the hot-tub.

We have had such a wonderful time with Mom & Dad visiting.