Are your F@#%ing kidding me? Plus Halloween and Hurricane Sandy

Kristi and I ended September with a "just the two of us" visit to New York City.  I was going up for work and Kristi came for the weekend.  She had never been to the city so it was a new experience and a great time.  We had lots of good food, saw some great sites and took in a Broadway show: The Book of Mormon (hysterical).

We kicked off October with a family trip to see Pop, Lola and crew in Indiana.  The kids did great in the car the entire trip.  One stop for lunch and to play outside and other than that they were content to chill in the car looking at books or watching movies.  Our visit to Bloomington got off to a rough start when Abby slipped on the stairs on our first morning there.  We could tell by the way she was crying and holding herself that something was wrong.  So we took a little trip to the Emergency Room.  Diagnosis: nursemaid's (i.e.: dislocated) elbow on the left side and a broken clavicle (collar bone) on the right side.  The Doc was able to reset the elbow without any trouble and Abby just had to wear a sling for a few weeks.  So luckily there were no casts or anything involved, but it was a bummer of a way to start our vacation.

That aside, we had a great visit.  I got to hang out with some folks from my IU days.  Kristi got to hang out with her great friends.  And the kids got a full helping of Pop, Lola and Dmitri.  We all took a trip to a pumpkin patch that had lots of other outdoor activities (slides, hay rides, petting zoo, train rides, pony rides...).  It was a beautiful day, and other than the fact that we couldn't let Abby in the bounce house, the kids had a blast.

Once we got back home, the focus shifted to Halloween.  Since Abby is Daddy's little princess, I took charge of selecting her costume.  Her Alice in Wonderland outfit was ADORABLE.  We went back and forth on what Corin should be.  After too much deliberation and procrastination, we went with a boxer (since that was one of the only things that the three stores we went to had in his size).  It wasn't our first choice, but it turned out to be a great one.  He looked very cute and he loved having the boxing gloves to attack with.  Even his knocked out tooth came in handy since it looked like he had just gotten into a good fight.  We had a little dress up session at home so I could see the kids, since I was going to be gone on Halloween.

But before Halloween could get here, Hurricane Sandy blew through town.  Kristi was prepared for the family to have to live off the grid for the next month.  But luckily, our power didn't even blink.  So a couple days later the kids were able to head out and go Trick or Treating.  Abby wasn't too interested, but Corin did great.  He had practiced saying "Trick or Treat" and always said "Thank you" after receiving his treats.

We've started off November with the election.  So now that that is over, we should be able to get back into a little more of a stable routine at home for a bit.  And the adventure continues...

(Several of these videos are a little older and I just got them off of my phone:)