Empty Nesting: I love a nice long weekend

There's nothing quite like Columbus Day weekend. It comes at just the right time in the school year, about six weeks in and everyone is ready for a little break in the action. This year I also have an Institute Day tacked on. Tomorrow I am going to a day long training about narrative language assessments (which I can totally use with my ED kiddos). It will be long, but it will be different and I will look forward to being back in the classroom on Wednesday.
This holiday weekend was extra special because Jack and I watched Ellie while Matt and Sally went to Napa to celebrate Matt's 30th (which was October 2). It could not have gone any better! Ellie is so easy and so sweet and we could sit and admire her for hours on end. Ellie arrived on Friday morning after she and Matt dropped off Sally at work. I only had to work 1/2 day in the pm so I was around all morning. We enjoyed visiting with Matt, our super great son-in-law, and he was patient listening to our stories and hanging out with us. At 10 am, while Ellie was down for her morning nap, Jack and Matt picked up Sally from work and they headed straight to the airport. How fun is that???
We did not do anything too extraordinary with Ellie. At 13 months, she is just as happy sitting on Grandpa Jack's lap and reading books, or going to Kramer's (Friday night) or Kirschbaum's (Saturday morning). We also went to Nina's soccer game on Saturday morning. It was the most beautiful weather, as was the rest of the weekend. Abbie and Nina came back to our house with us (a long overdue visit) and later Jenny and Charley came to pick them up for a sleepover at Jenny's.
We loved visiting with Abbie and Nina. Ellie loves them so much and they are so good with her. Abbie and Nina are so mature! It is kinda crazy. We had a ball playing Kids Charades and then asking/answering questions from our question box. One of the best? Who is your most unusual relative? Abbie answered, "It has to be you, Jack. Being unusual isn't bad. It can be very good. You are unusual because when anyone is with you, you just make them want to burst out laughing. You are so funny". Love it!

On Sunday, we had to take Ellie to Bob and Mary's. Jack and I decided that Matt and Sally need to take longer trips so we can have Ellie with us for longer periods of time!
One of the highlights of Sunday evening was a facetime call with Wayne and Julie to catch up. Always good for my soul to talk to the kids.
Also this weekend we were finishing up the whole Hurricane Matthew situation. Bucky is still in Florida and did not evacuate with Paul to Pensacola. We were worried about Bucky, but were thrilled that he did not get much damage and any power outages. Praise God!!