OUT

Took the kids down to the dried up part of James River last week when the school had parent/teacher conferences.

We love Richmond. Cole's good (and hilarious) friend Jeffrey joined us. He's always so great about us dragging him all over the place.

Cats make us sleepy

I love sleeping babies. And June loves our Lizzy cat (even though her eyes water and her nose gets itchy when she's been holding her too long). Lizzy ran away for 5 days and then showed up one night mewing at our back door and ever since we haven't had any problems with her running and hiding and being terrified of the kids. She's so friendly and loves cuddling up with each kid. It must have been her traumatic experience living on her own in the "wild" (aka: under the neighbor's shed).

Philly in October

We took a picture perfect trip up to Philadelphia this weekend to see our good friends the Blakes (friends from Richmond who are up there just for a year doing a fellowship), and to celebrate Halloween in one of Geof.'s favorite cities.

We wouldn't have been able to go had we not literally packed our life in Richmond up and brought it straight to the Blake's. I mean, I had to do some home school with Cole, and Geof. had to work, but it was worth the effort.

Our friends, Erin and Matt were great hosts and fed us yummy homemade (and gluten free!) food all weekend. What a treat! And their home was beautiful. Tall vaulted ceilings and big open windows that gave ample view to the fall colors outside...it was quite nice. Geof. had to work part of Friday and all of Monday while we were there but didn't complain much since he parked his "office" right in front of a pair of extra large windows and had that view to look out at all day. Now I'm thinking I'll have to find a way to replicate that in his dark office with a tiny side window. :/

The Blakes have 4 cute and energetic kids which nicely complimented our 3 crazies. The weather Sat. (the day we went in to the city to see the sights) was the worst it could have been; rain, sleet, wind, snow, and eventually hailfell on us all day. But the kids (and even us adults) dealt well and had fun! We saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall (a little history: Independence Hall is, by every estimate, the birthplace of the United States. It was within its walls that the Declaration of Independence was adopted. It was here that the Constitution of the United States was debated, drafted and signed. That document is the oldest federal constitution in existence and was framed by a convention of delegates from 12 of the original 13 colonies.), and Valley Forge.

We then headed over to Reading Market which was so cool! A little about the Market:

Reading Terminal Market

Mouth-watering aromas. Produce fresh from the field. Amish specialties. Fresh meats, seafood, and poultry. Unique, hand-made pottery, jewelry and crafts from around the world. The hustle and bustle of a multitude of diverse people. It’s all here in Philadelphia’s historic farmers market, Reading Terminal Market. An exhilarating selection of baked goods, meats, poultry, seafood, produce, flowers, ethnic foods, cookware and eclectic restaurants are peppered throughout the Market. We invite you to explore this unique and extraordinary historic farmers market in Center City Philadelphia.

We definitely want to return before Matt and Erin's time is up. What a fun city! The only thing that would have made it all better would've been to stay an extra week and for Geof. to not have to work...not that we're complaining. Thank goodness for his job! :)

On Halloween night we headed over to a posh neighborhood where in one home we were actually invited in for hot apple cider, pumpkin choc. chip cookies, soda or bottled water (for each kid!), and of course full size candy bars. No joke! I'd never experienced that many one-uppers in my life! ;) The kids were happy and of course we didn't mind snagging a few of their full size Snickers. Thank you!

I just realized I didn't get one pic of Matt and Erin. Lame. Well, they're pretty good looking people if you have to know...