We have such a busy and fulfilling October with loved ones! It started with a trip to Arkansas, then we went to Maine a week later, then my snister and her family stayed the night Friday and Sunday night this weekend on their way to and from Detroit (and there’s more – Steven has another trip and we have guests the last weekend of the month)!

This month is FLYING. In a good way!

I totally remembered my snister and her fam were staying the night Friday and Sunday. What did not connect in my brain is that that them staying Sunday meant maybe I should have taken some time off Monday morning? Oops. I realized this last Thursday, logged into work email Friday, and cautiously opened my work calendar to see if I had anything booked, and I didn’t until 10:30 am. Phew. So I was able to take some time off (I normally start at 6:30 or 7:00).

(So that I wouldn’t start late Monday all frantic trying to catch up, I spent an hour on Saturday reading and organizing emails and scheduling responses to go out Monday morning, and I’m glad I did – it wasn’t too bad and didn’t ruin my Saturday.)

Christina (snister), Will, and the kids (William, Leo, & Ella) arrived around 5:00 pm on Friday. We had a fun night of hanging out and eating pizza. The kids loved exploring the house. William had been here when he was little (and Leo, technically, since Christina was pregnant with him), and Ella when she was little too, but none of them remembered it, so they got to be in explorer mode on the first night.

I asked Ella to point to “papa” (what she calls my dad). So sweet!

Apollo did so well with the kids, which tracks – here he is with William (Christina’s oldest) in October 2018:

And here he is with Ella in October 2022. Ha! My snis likes to visit in October!

And here he is on this visit:

Starbuck hung around a little, and Ned and Khali hid. It was a bit loud, ha, so I don’t blame them!

It was fun to play with the kids and also get a chance to have some adult conversation while the kids were watching Netflix. A perfect mix!

They left Saturday morning, and returned Sunday around 3:00 pm. I texted Christina on their way back and asked if they wanted to go to Kroll’s Harvest Farm and she responded with “How did you know that’s what sis wanted?”

Ella was definitely dressed for the day!

We hung out a bit when they arrived, then drove to the farm, and did all the activities – petting zoo,

corn maze,

pumpkin donuts,

and the “hay” ride.

We got there around 4:00 and left around 5:30. It’s a small sized farm with minimal activities, but honestly, I think that was the right size for us!

Then we picked up Thai food and went back to the house and ate with Steven and Will, who had worked on a few projects while we were gone. It was fun to chat and joke around with them.

A few times William had asked if I wanted to paint, which I was hoping he would, because I hadn’t painted in four weeks! So we got everything out and drew and painted (Christina and Leo joined us too).

It felt nice to do it after so many weeks off. I didn’t miss it – I really hadn’t prioritized it and was completely fine with that – but it was nice to see I could still do it, and to sit down and focus on something. We’ll see if I do any more painting this month. I haven’t wanted to get the supplies out at night, and haven’t made time for it on the weekends.

We all called it a night around 8:00 pm which made me happy since that’s when I normally start my end of evening activities and get ready for bed. Perfect guests!

We had breakfast together Monday morning, hung out a bit, then Steven headed off to work, and Christina and fam left shortly after.

We’re so glad they stopped by! It was lovely to see them all and reassuring to see that our house isn’t super kid unfriendly. I was a bit concerned about that before their trip (not about any of my things getting damaged – IDGAF – but about safety for the kids). We just gated off the messy office and it went pretty well. Yay! We hope they visit again soon!