All By Myself

The test has arrived to see how I handle living in Europe as a single parent. Andrew was in Stockholm last week, home for 2 days, and now is in Singapore for a week (our understanding is that he typically won't have trips this close together). Prior to his departure I maintained a positive attitude (mostly) and envisioned the kids and myself having movie nights, going on walks to get gelato, and eating pizza every night (this, because it takes 5 minutes to make).

The reality: I awoke to Luke throwing up on Sunday morning.

The good news is that we made it to a pumpkin festival the day before (pictures below), and Luke's illness only lasted 2 days. On top of that, no one else seems to have contracted the illness. I'll count it as a victory. I've also discovered that Andrew being away while living in Europe is just like Andrew being away while living in the US. The kids and I maintain our daily routines and look forward to his return. Oh, and I also get to stay up as late as I want reading (I'm starting book 4 of the Fablehaven series which I began 3 days ago) and I get to control the TV/DVD player. I'm still trying to figure out if I'll be watching Pride and Prejudiced or Little Women tonight. Maybe I'll watch a little of both, or maybe I'll just read my book.

Here are some pictures from the pumpkin festival. We missed you Andrew!

I thought this was kind of cool. This was a game where the kids had to stack plastic crates on top of each other while climbing the crate tower. The higher they got, the more unstable and wobbly the stack became. Of course they were wearing harnesses, but those kids were fearless (most seemed to be around 5-8 years old)! I tried to get Sam and Luke to do it, but had no luck.