My Little Pumpkin

The good news is, things have been busy since we've been back and that makes the days go by faster! The bad news is, I haven't blogged in a little while and these pictures are a couple of weeks old.
We went to the pumpkin patch with some friends and Ellie picked her pumpkin. Now when we go out to get the mail, she points at her pumpkin and tells me all about it.

Here are some more pumpkins (and their pumpkins!)

My Mad Skills

So, now that I'm home and Ellie's still a few years away from learning calculus, I'm trying to come up with ways to keep some of the stuff I've learned from slipping away. One way is by trying to answer questions on http://www.physicsforums.com. This is a big step for me, because even though I'm fairly anonymous there, I've always been nervous about putting an answer out unless I'm really, really sure. Other people's physics and math confidence tends to intimidate me. (Although, as was pointed out in a recent interview with math major and actress Danica McKellar, just because someone answers quickly doesn't mean they answer best).

Anway, the point of all of this is to say that if anyone knows anyone locally who could use some homework help in math or physics, I'll be available, especially after December. Wow. Now I really feel like I'm putting myself out there. I'd better post this before I change my mind!

Home

We're home! We arrived before dark last night and found our house in great shape (thank you Kristin!) and our neighbors as eager to play with us as we were with them. It was a great trip, and Ellie was an excellent traveler this last week. She did whimper every time I put her in the car, but as long as she had access to toys, books, food, and drink, she was pretty happy in the backseat, all the way through Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.

We knew we were really home when we saw something like this from our driveway this morning:

And We're Off!

Whew. The trunk is loaded, the car has just enough space for Ellie and I to squeeze in, and the emergency load of laundry added this morning is dry, folded, and tucked into the suitcase. It's been great, but it's time to go. Bye-bye, Massachusetts!

Great Adventures: West

Now that we're coming to the end of our time in Boston, it all seems to have gone by so fast! We crammed lots of activities in the early part of our extended vacation, and enjoyed all of the trips and people. Lately, we've settled into a quieter routine of playing with Grammy and Penny the Dog during the day and spending quality time with Grandpa and Grammy in the evenings. We will miss them so much!

We're starting our trip back on Thursday. We'll stay with my aunt the first night, then visit Becky at Grove City on Friday night and Saturday. We're planning to spend Saturday and Sunday night in Dayton. After that, we'll take two days to drive to visit my brother and sister-in-law in Oklahoma. After two nights there, we'll make the drive back home! That gets us home sometime October 11th.

Here's our google map:



I'm packing up the clothes and toys (we seem to have more now than when we came), and hoping it all fits in the car! We're sad to leave, but also looking forward to going home. See you soon, Albuquerque!