I’m typing this up on Wednesday night at 10pm. Bryan is still at work at the office. He’s been working so very hard!!
I just processed hundreds of pictures from Andrew’s preschool Halloween party. Those little kids in costumes are just the cutest. And it’s pretty clear that I’m going to need a new computer soon. I love my laptop, but it’s just not robust enough to handle the photo editing that I’m trying to make it do. I usually have a book next to me to read between clicks…as my computer goes, “Kerchunk, kerchunk…you want me to do what???”
Melanie is flying up from Texas tomorrow, and we’re all so excited for her visit. She’ll be staying with us through the weekend, and then Andrew is going to hop on the plane with her, and together they will fly back to Texas. Then Andrew will be visiting her and then Granny and Grandad until November 10. He talks about his upcoming trip very regularly, and he’s had his backpack packed for weeks. It’s safe to say that he loves his family, and he loves Texas. It’s warm there, you know!
We’ve had a stretch of amazing weather. The weekend was stunning. Gorgeous color, lots of sunshine. Ahhh, beautiful autumn warms the soul. Bryan had a two-day chess tournament over the weekend. Since it was held in downtown Madison, the kids and I spent both days down at Terry’s condo, and we got to see Bryan between matches. Bryan had an intense day on Saturday, losing two of three games, and then on Sunday, he ended up winning both games, and rarely have I seen my boy so fired up about a challenge. From my perspective, chess is a lot like rock climbing. You’re trying to find a path to your goal…you’re trying to think out risks…you’re calculating dozens or hundreds of possibilities in hopes of finding the optimal trail. It can be exhilarating and demanding and exhausting. That might be where the similarities end 🙂 Since he pulled out three wins, Bryan won his class for the tournament. And he brought home Michael’s sundays to celebrate!
Andrew spent the weekend expanding his horizons too. On Saturday, Terry took him to a silent movie at Overture Center. When I was little, Terry took me and the kids (that’s Michael, Maretta, and Joe) to many, many silent movies through Duck Soup Cinema. Andrew really enjoyed seeing Buster Keaton play Sherlock Jr. He brought home a balloon hippo that we’ve been playing with for the past several days.
Andrew and I went to a theater last year to see The Tail of Despereaux, but this is his second movie in a theater. I like knowing that he has had such limited exposure to popular culture!! I’m sure Sherlock Jr. was very popular back in 1924.
Then on Sunday, Andrew went to his second play (his first being A Christmas Carol). Terry took him to see the musical Little Women. Terry reported that Andrew did very, very well. The play ended up being 2 hours and 40 minutes, which is a bit too long for a four-year-old. Andrew got kind of wiggly after about two hours. Terry said that they quietly flamed the actors by breathing Godzilla fire to pass the time. But when they came home, Andrew talked animatedly about how much he enjoyed it! He said that the story reminded him a little of Cinderella.
I did a photo session this evening with a little girl who is so cute it’s nearly unreasonable. Instead of cleaning up the house (sorry Mel!), I think I’ll look at those pictures now.
Toodles!
