Two weekends of fun!

 Last weekend, we had a couple more firsts: our first houseguests and our first family dinner!  And Brad's first time using his Komodo Joe.

David, Blair & Jackson came up for the weekend.  They were officially the first people to sleep in our guest room and on the trundle in Drew's bed.  Drew and Jackson had a big time playing Rocket League on the Xbox, playing with David's disc golf outside, and playing football with our neighbour Bennett.  They were so happy to have each other!  I am so happy to see them playing together.

For our first family dinner, we had David, Blair and Jackson; Mum Mum; and Andi, Christian and Levi.  It was so nice to have some of the family in our house.  I made lasagna and my mom made a salad.  After dinner, we used our firepit for S'mores.  We need to work on our first starting abilities, but everyone enjoyed the s'mores.  I remembered why I kept a few of the kids old toys: for Levi!  He had a big time playing with the Little People bus, the drum, and the stacking cups.  I enjoyed seeing his personality come out.  I look forward to many more family dinners!

On Sunday, we watched some football (the Titans had quite an amazing overtime win!)  All the while, Brad was keeping watch over his ribs on the Komodo Joe.  They were SOOOOO yummy!!!!  Very impressive first time using the Komodo Joe.

The kids were on fall break last week (although I kept calling it half term!)  The kids, Archie and I left on Wednesday afternoon and headed up to Michigan.  Alison had a practice gymnastics meet on Saturday and Sunday, so we went a couple of days early so we could spend some time with Nana and Papa.  We arrived around dinner time and Archie was sooooo happy to meet Nana and Papa!

It was a bit rainy for most of the time, but Papa took Archie for quite a few walks and he was ready to keep Archie at his house for good.  The girls did some crafting and shopping; the boys played some soccer and football.  And the TV was pretty much 100% on ESPN!

Sarah and her family arrived on Friday evening around 6:00, about the same time as Brad. Pixie (their 7 year old dog) was the first one in the house and she was immediately ambushed by Archie.  She didn't know what to do about this dog who would not keep his nose out of her bum!  Gabe, Ben and Annabelle are all looking so grown up.  The kids had a great time playing Among Us together.  Drew absolutely LOVES spending time with  Tall Boy and Curly Hair so much.  And they are good cousins for tolerating his craziness at times.

Originally, Alison and I were going to leave on Friday evening after everyone arrived, but we decided that we would leave early on Saturday morning so that she could have some time with Annabelle.  I set my alarm for 5:15 AM so we could get on the road at 6.  You can imagine my shock when I woke up, expecting to see that it was 4:30 and it was instead 7:36!!!

I was freaking out and asked Brad what I should do, and he said to just get in the car and go.  I immediately woke Alison up and we were on the road before 8 AM.  We made it to the gym at 12:56, which 4 minutes to spare.  Alison slept for a couple of hours, and I have to say that time goes by really quickly when you are in a rush.  I enjoyed listening to some 90s music and enjoying the beautiful autumn leaves.  We didn't make a single stop; Alison had to get into her leotard in the back of the van.

The fall clinic went well overall.  I think Alison enjoyed it.  It was 4 and a half hours!!!  They did all 4 apparatus in Olympic order: vault, bars, beam, floor.  And they also learned a hip hop routine and did a craft.  

Alison was most excited for after the clinic because I had told her that we could make slime and go to Learning Express for some fidget toys!  And she just wanted to have my homemade mac & cheese for dinner.  We got home and she immediately went to work on her slime; she made three different sorts.  We watched most of the Michigan game, and were happy to see they were going to win! 

Alison was surprised at how nice it was without Drew and Lauren.  And we missed Archie!

Such fun times seeing family we haven't seen in nearly a year!  Everyone is so shocked at how tall Lauren is.

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