I'm not sure if that's one word, but I'll leave it like that.
We're back and it's December 1st. We went to Colorado for our Thanksgiving break and we did have fun, but it was very tiring as we drove. We drove to Salina once again on the way the first day and then finished up the rest the next day. It still felt long. We spent a couple days in Denver with Ellen and Matt before they left for Iceland. On Monday, we left for Estes Park. Laura had gotten us a cabin at the YMCA and it turned out to be one of the newer, if not the newest, cabin there. Well, that might now be true, but everything looked new and clean, so it must have been. Anyway, it was a really good cabin with 2 rooms. One had a bed + bunk bed where the kids stayed and we stayed in the other. It was a good setup minus the couple of time Emmeline kept Connor up at bedtime. There was a lot to do there, but we certainly didn't do all of it. The first day we went to a painting station thing and that ended up in Emmeline screaming for some reason. Before we got there, Connor had a huge fit as well because both were just not listening to me at all that first day/night. Plus it was FREEZING because it was the windiest of the 3 days we were there. Well, 2 days. The next day was better and we hiked up into the mountains. It snowed just before and during the hike which was actually nice because the kids loved it. After the short hike because Connor's boot was drenched inside and it was freezing his feet, we went back to the cabin to rest and then to another short hiking area in the afternoon, which was much warmer and no snow. Afterwards, we ate at a mexican restaurant and then had dessert at "Laura's Desserts" in downtown. We saw a herd of elk in the park area downtown and almost got hit by deer running around in the YMCA grounds which made the kids laugh and stuff. That night was probably the best night of the trip as we all had fun. It felt like the holidays because all the lights were up in the town and it was snowy and stuff. After Estes, we went to Chris' house to hang out. We went to Top Golf, which was fun, but very expensive and probably not worth it if you don't have a large group.
For actual Thanksgiving day, we went to my sister's house in Niwot. The kids actually had fun and they played with Justine, who was a trooper hanging out with them the entire time, mostly with Connor. Her boyfriend, who makes dice and lightsabers, was there with them in hand and they played with that a lot. They both had fun I think. The food was good and after hanging out after a bit, we left to head back to Ellen's. The next day we went to Boulder to play at the park with Chris. That night, Laura had gotten us Polar Express tickets in Golden. The kids liked it, but there was a hiccup with seating during the moving train part and Laura got mad about it, but I just said forget about it since they're not going to do anything. The entire experience, I think, was better at the Oklahoma one, because in this one, we started out in a non-moving train to eat cookies and stuff and then we all moved onto the moving train to see the "North Pole" which was actually just a few hundred feet away. The train just kept going in circles until it was time to "make the stop." Anyway, it was fine, we were all tired out, and went home.
The drive back was actually probably better considering the fact we made it in 1 day. We stopped in Colby and then a little past Salina. The kids did great, really, with little fussing. Again, it was a fun but tiring trip.
Now, it's onto Christmas. That's a whole other set of events. Ellen and Matt will be here this year and a couple less folks, but it will be stressful I'm sure. We need to figure something out about leaving the house every day. The problem is that we're just cooped up in there all day every day for a few days and that just makes everyone in a bad mood. The kids aren't ready to just sit and watch TV and listen to stories. We also need to make time to see the new Star Wars movie. I wanted to try it in the Warren theater so we can experience the eating and stuff while watching the movie. We'll see if we can do that. I'm sure it'll be sold out, possibly.
There are a couple of new projects that I want to tackle in the coming year. One is to get on my damn book. I just need to finish the first book draft and I'll be ready to put it on Amazon or something. Once there's interest, I'll start book 2. The second thing is that I want to kind of make kids bedtime story audio books, similar to the Jim Weiss ones Laura and Connor listen to. However, I want to make it about actual places on Earth, so they could "travel" to these places. I won't have gone to any of them, but I'm thinking with some research, I can write in a way that describes the places and the history and explanation of the place. I dunno...I searched for kids bedtime stories and nothing came up, so I figured it might be a good niche to take on. I put a microphone on my Christmas list for that reason. Although, I don't want to be the one narrating. I thought about using a voiceover on Fiverr but perhaps Laura could do it, too. Listening to myself is the weirdest thing for me. I can't stand it. I think there's some research into why that is, but I'm not sure.
Lately, I've just been super tired as well, mostly due to the kids' fits and general attitude about not listening well at all. Maybe it's just me and how I act with them, but it's tiring me out. I know that I should just drop some stuff and let certain little things slide, but when the moment comes, I just can't for some reason. I just have to say something and then at some point, I can't really back out of what I said, which usually leads to escalation and fits. The thing is, I see everything the kids do as something that shouldn't be happening, like using their fingers when eating, not sitting done when eating, fingers in their mouths, etc. I dunno, but I need to change something up for next year, i guess.
Disneyworld is the next big thing, I think, and that's in May. I guess we'll have Connor's birthday, too.
And, oh, look. It's already time to get Emmeline and I literally got nothing done. Sigh.
