A Good Week

We've just had a good, happy week all around and a nice relaxing weekend to wrap it all up.  

We had an awesome storm come through this weekend- it started raining Friday morning at 8 AM and didn't stop until Saturday afternoon.  It was glorious!

It doesn't rain a whole lot here and it certainly doesn't get very cold and this weekend, we had some of both.  It definitely made home bodies out of us.  We didn't even go out for our usual Friday night out dinner because it was just to cozy at home.  We went to bed Friday night listening to the pitter of rain and woke up to it Saturday morning.  Mom couldn't run and dad couldn't ride so we made the most of that and got stuff done around the house.  Mom finally got the rest (well, most of the rest) of her pictures hung up and then organized her spice drawer.  Exciting stuff, I know, but wait until you hear what dad did.  He shredded boxes of paper that have been sitting in our dining room since we moved in.  It took all morning and was super fun!

We finally got motivated to get out of the house in the afternoon because I had a play date with some friends from school.  Mom actually got out of her jammies, showered and got dressed before she drove me over.  My friend's are twins that are in my class.  Max and Claire and I had a fabulous time and I hid under the couch because I didn't want to go home.  Then as usual, I was a complete grump for hours after.  I have this nasty habit of being a complete sourpuss after playdates.  It got so bad in Denver, we had to put the kabash on anything after school.  We'll see how it goes here.....

We did our dinner out on Saturday instead and I fell asleep at the table- that may explain some of my grumpiness.  We did manage to get to bed early and slept in on Sunday.  Mom was able to get out for a run because it finally stopped raining and it was a beautiful morning.

The leaves are finally starting to change here so it looks likes Fall has made its appearance!

We had a pretty low keyed Sunday because it was down right "cold" here!  We had a high of about 53 degrees and really didn't want to leave the house.  And people wonder why we were miserable in Denver!  Mom made a huge pot of beef stew (Mr. Walker style) and we hunkered down to wait out this miserable weather.

Meanwhile, over in Albuquerque, cousin Sophia was not to impressed with the cold either.  We all knew she was smart!

We have the makings of another great week- dad is off all week, I only have school Monday and Tuesday and then it's Thanksgiving!  The best of all holidays!  Have a great one and we will see you on Sunday!

Another week down and another week closer to the holidays.  It seems like just yesterday that Thanksgiving was weeks and weeks away.  Now, it is next week- dad and I are saying woo-hoo! because we have the week off and mom is saying *&^%( because Thanksgiving is next week.

Dad was out of town for the first part of the week- back in Washington D.C. ( a little deja vu) so mom and I were solo.  We went to Eegee's for dinner on Monday, ate cereal on Tuesday and let things go a little but it was all good.  Dad came home for a couple of nights and then left for an overnight boys camping trip so mom and I had a Girl's Night Out on Friday at Cheesecake Factory.  We did a little shopping after that and bought me a super cute new dress for Christmas.  Mom is really jealous because if it came in her size, she would have totally bought it.

Dad got home on Saturday afternoon and we headed out to the patio to enjoy the awesome November weather.  

 About an hour after this tranquil picture was taken, mom started feeling not so good and ended up with some stomach flu/food poisoning thing that kept her up all stinkin' night.  You'll remember that when I had the same thing a week ago, dad was so awesome and slept in my room all night with me.  No such luck for mom.  He slept in my room again- which was probably for the best.  It wasn't pretty....

On Sunday, I had a swim-a-thon to raise money for my swim team.  It was supposed to be a family fun day but since mom still couldn't stand up, dad and I went by ourselves.

I did awesome and swam 50 laps.  I got to swim my last few laps with a former Olympian and UofA grad (of course neither dad or I could remember her name:( ) and I beat her!  I think she let me win but I will take it.  She and I spent a lot of time talking about Minecraft- my new obsession.

It was a great day and by the time we got home, mom was back among the living so all was right with the world.  Wishing everyone a safe and relaxing Thanksgiving!

Welcome Baby Brendan!

 I did not have a very exciting week but we will get to that in a minute.  The big news on the Walker side of things is the addition of a new cousin!  After kind of a scary delivery, Brendan Walker joined us on Saturday.

After an extra day in the hospital, Auntie Erin and Baby Brendan finally made it home on Monday.  Look how happy Sophia is to have a new play thing!  She is apparently already treating him how every little brother should be treated- poking him in the belly and pulling his hat off.  Off to a good start and it should be years of fun to come!

My week was not nearly so exciting.  School, swim lessons and first communion classes.  My teacher came down with viral meningitis and was admitted to the hospital for a few days.  Fortunately, the viral kind of meningitis is not the scary kind so she is doing much better and will be back on Tuesday.  I really, really missed her though and will be happy when she's back!
I did not get meningitis but I did get some kind of stomach thing and was throwing up every hour on the hour from 6:00 PM Thursday night until 4:00 AM on Friday.  Because dad is a much better parent than mom will ever be, he slept on the trundle bed in my room with me for the whole night and so was up every hour on the hour as well.  He also got to stay home with me on Friday but I did feel better by then and by Saturday, I was bouncing off the walls and ready to go.
We had a very quiet weekend and spent most of Saturday just enjoying the fact that we had nothing to do and didn't feel like doing anything.
Dad is going to be riding in a 24 hour mountain bike race in February (with none other than Mr. Walker!) so we got up early Sunday and headed out to my friend Madeline's house so her dad and my dad could get in a training ride.  The ladies stayed back home and mom needled Ms. Audrey's plantar fascia while Madeline and I played Wii.  It was another nice relaxing day.
Monday morning, dad had to fly out to Washington D.C. for work.  Here's the twist- it's for his old job.  So the first time he has to travel in months and months isn't for his new job but his old one.  It seems they just love him and can't let him go!  He comes home on Wednesday and I already can't wait.
Have a great rest of the week!

Oooooo- A Fun Week!

Well- this has been a fun week for me with all kinds of adventures!  I go to an Episcopal school, or Catholic lite as mom likes to say.  The lower school (grades K-3) go to chapel every Tuesday.  This Tuesday, my class got to be "worker bees" at the mass.  Some of us got to read from the bible, some of us passed the collection basket and I got to carry the candle in the opening and closing processionals.  I think it was kind the most fun and important job because I got to wear a special robe.  I had to leave class early to go get fitted so that made it extra fun.  Anything that gets you out of class early is fun- right?

As if that wasn't enough fun for the week, Thursday was Halloween!  I decided to be Princess Leia from Return of the Jedi when she landed on planet Endor.  Mom made my costume and was kind of proud of it.  People actually knew who I was!  It's a good thing too because my costume involved a trip to an army surplus store which is a whole different world that mom doesn't really want to go back to anytime soon.

We headed out for trick or treating around 6:30 and it was a very different scene from our last two years up in Denver.  Up north, it's a big party- there are mobs and mobs of kids, parents are drinking adult beverages and we  always ran out of candy to hand out.  This year, a lot of porch lights were unlit, the people who did answer the door tended to be north of 70 years old and the only candy we gave out was directly into our mouths.  Never the less, I scored a substantial amount of goodies and there were a few really fun houses so I was a happy camper.

Dad even got in on the magic.  He borrowed a "real" light saber from someone at work (only at Raytheon!) and went as Lord Palpatine- the bad guy.  We totally rocked it!

The weekend brought even more good times.  Mom had a girl's night out planned for Saturday so dad and Uncle Brian planned a campout with the kids for that night too.  Which means mom got yet another free weekend.  She had a great time catching up with all her mom friends and commiserating.  It was good, cheap therapy!
Meanwhile, I was having even more fun.  We "camped out" in the RV at Catalina State Park again.   We brought a lot of energy and volume to the retirement village.  I think we were the youngest by about 70 years but they all needed a little waking up!

After a  not so restful night of sleep (dad kept stealing my covers and Evan fell out of bed) we had a hardy breakfast and then headed down to the horse stables.

There was a really nice man there saddling up his horse and he let me ride it around for a little while.  The horse's name is Delta Dawn and I think I want one for Christmas now.....

I look pretty comfortable, huh?

We got home around 11 on Sunday to find mom working away in the kitchen.  You'd think she was getting us ready for an episode of "Doomsday Preppers" the way she was going.  She got dinner prepped and ready for Monday night, made some healthy banana zucchini muffins for snacks and then finally made some Pan de Muerto in celebration of Dia de los Muertos.  It was little nerve wracking as mom doesn't do yeast bread very often but it was sure tasty.  We've made it through almost a whole loaf already.  The other loaf goes into work tomorrow- bummer!

It's looking like a quiet week ahead.  Hope everyone enjoys theirs!