October: So Far

October has been one of the busiest/craziest/non-awesome months ever.
TJ has been gone, a lot, for work…he’s been traveling a LOT for work (he’s currently out of town and has been for the last 8 days!) and when he’s home, he works late every night.
The kids and I try to entertain ourselves as best as we can, to forget about missing dad so much!

Riker has grown so much and is my favorite little boy.
He’s typically pretty good, but definitely keeps me on my toes…he’s non-stop and always wants to be active.

And little Miss Olivia is desperate to keep up with her brother, so she is always Go Go Go too!
She’s probably the worlds fastest crawler, but she’s also pretty quick when walking with a walker.
No independent steps yet, but she is starting to stand up on her own more so I imagine she’ll be walking soon enough!

But these kids sure do love and miss their daddy.
TJ and I recently upgraded to new iPhones (4s, not 5) and we’ve use the Facetime feature daily since he’s been gone so the kids can see him and remember who he is!

And of course, we take pictures all the time to send to daddy so he can remember us too!

We’ve kept busy with park play dates, trips to the mall, and playing at the splash pad (yes, we can still play in the water in October!).

This past week, TJ’s grandfather passed away so a last minute trip to Spokane, WA was arranged.

TJ was in Utah working so he was just going to meet us in Spokane…
meaning I had to fly with both kids by myself!

The flight wasn’t awful, but my arms were pretty tired after holding wiggly Olivia for 2.5 hours!
But once we landed, we were able to go see TJ’s grandma (the kids great-grandma!).
(and yes, Olivia is gnawing on a chicken bone in this picture…we are classy!)

The kids favorite part of the weekend was of course getting to see their dad!
He’d been gone for a week and was planning to stay in Spokane for work for several more days, so we got in as many cuddles as we could!

The funeral for Grandpa Jack was very nice; the firemen played the bagpipes and the Air Force played taps…and since Jack had once been a state legislator, the flags at the capital were flown at half-mast in memory of him.

We don’t get to see TJ’s relatives very often so it was nice to get to see all of them again.
TJ’s aunt Cathy hosted everyone at her home after the funeral.
The views from her house were gorgeous (but in the winter, she has to use a snowmobile to get to her house…so I don’t want to live there!)

Riker loved meeting his cousins and had fun playing with them.

The flight home was…fine.
Riker is a pretty easy traveller…give him the iPad and snacks and he’s good to go.
Olivia, on the other hand, is such a wiggly bug and hated being held/restrained…but luckily, no one cried!

Now, I am in the midst of packing up our apartment in preparation for our move this weekend.
We have found a house to rent and are excited to have our own backyard…and a park just around the corner…and a garage…and no shared walls!
October has definitely been a busy month…and its only half way over!