Was there a November?

Time's a funny thing, innit? Shalome & Ahlwan came to visit for 2 weeks, and they flew by in a flash! It's been 2 weeks since they left for Australia again, and it feels like forever. Bam - four weeks. The entirety of November.

And now it's Advent, Week 1! We've begun our Advent wreath and calendar, the former being for the whole family and the latter solely for Paul's enjoyment =). I love Advent.

Oh, what about those 4 weeks, you ask? They were fun-filled, not-so-fun-filled, busy, relaxing, and then Thanksgiving.

We so enjoyed having the chance to catch up with Shalome and really get to know little Ahlwan a bit. He's 18mos now, so he's changed tons, clearly, since we last saw him at just 4mos. We did lots of touristy things together and lots of normal not-so-touristy things. We ferried, streetcarred, playgrounded, and cooked & ate. Dylan couldn't take any time off work, unfortunately, but we all stayed up a little past our usual times in order to talk a bit without tiny people wanting our attentions. We were horrible at taking photos for the entire 2 weeks; we only took a very few at the zoo.

So, some of the fun included said zoo visit (and a 6mile walk for me from the CBD there while the others took the streetcar; Ada slept the whole way in the stroller!), an aquarium visit, backyard picnics, walks on the levee, "First Friday on the Point" browsing, the Gumbo Fest ending in Ahlwan, Paul & Ada's first taxi ride, a date with just Paul, and fancy mussel dinner at Broussard's.

I also must include some of the not-so-fun because, come on, when you're talking about 3 kids under 3, there is just bound to be some nighttime crying, nap refusal, ferry missing, ant bites (68 on Ada's legs!), falling off the bed (Ada again ... same day as Ant Day), nasty weather, teething, fussing, and puking. Add to that one almost-missed flight!

After that, there was a lot of laundry and canceling our normal things due to semi-sickness. Paul copped it bad the night before Shalome & Ahlwan left, then I had a mild version later in the week, even keeping Dylan home to watch the kids. As soon as everyone was up to par, though, we got out! And the weather shaped up. It was cool, wet, and nasty for the second of Shalome's weeks, but it's back up to 65ºish and lovely.

We've moved Ada out of our room and into Paul's! She's done excellently, and Paul hasn't bat an eye. He likes it, in fact, so that's great. Just to balance awesome things, though, let me also mention that we traumatized Paul with a haircut, and Ada fell - again - and busted her lip. She healed over Thanksgiving weekend, and there's nothing noticeable. Poor little - tough - dear.

Thanksgiving was great! Mom, Dad, Ginny, & Ryan stayed here, and Pete came over and/or met us wherever we were doing anything. We had a delicious dinner here together before a delicious dessert session at Aunt Cyndi & Uncle Ben's with the extended family. So, so nice to get everybody together <3. And never-mind that business about Ada's eating ... she'll eat anything, any way, especially if it's delicious, like gumbo or Thanksgiving dinners. Again, the only photos:

My turkey birds 

Now bring on Advent!