All four of us were on the move before the big meal.

Grandma accompanied our simple days for a portion of this week. She brightened Montessori pick up, jaunts to the marsh and the sea, puzzles and books at home, and was game to rise early for a weekend 8k up and down, and up down the only hill our city possesses. We miss her already.

“If there is valor, there is hope.” Publius Cornelius Tacitus

Painting has become a bit more of a vocal exercise now that she can identify the colors of the rainbow.  

Winnie caught the bug. Following the thrill of the Tadpole Trot, she now cheers for everything that runs: her dad, her mom, her own tiny shoes, a neighbor’s shaggy dog, and now Harry Boy. She helps him with his form and chants “run Harry, RUN.”

“God, our family is here.

Thank you for our home, For the love that unites us, For the peace we had today, For the hope we have for tomorrow, For our health, our work, our food and the bright sky, Which make us happy; And for all our friends everywhere.”

Robert Louis Stevenson

Winnie’s nightly prayer book offers page after page of reminders to give thanks. A sentiment easily expressed when we are given a few days with all four.

We almost made it. With a 5:30pm bedtime, our social calendar is a bit limited. For this, Harry’s first and Winnie’s second, Halloween we tried ever so hard to stay up for trick or treating. We took a stroll around the street, and said hello to neighbors. Then, while everyone else was donning their costumes, we called it a night.