Halloboo - the Halloween version of a weekend at Idlewild.
We took the kids today for trick-or-treating in Story Book Forest and rides in the amusement park and a train ride through the entire park. This park, by the way, is rated #2 among children's amusement spots in the WORLD. Pretty cool, huh? Mr. Rogers, himself, lived down the road a bit and has an entire corner of the park devoted to his Neighborhood.
The temps dropped about 10 degrees while we were there. By the time we were sitting at the top of the ferris wheel, we were freezing, but happy. Camden's favorite thing today was bumper cars with Curt. Benjy's was a tie between the spider ride and the Tilt-a-Whirl. Mine was definitely the Spider and racing zip lines with Camden when he introduced me to the zip-line workers with a hug and a "This is my mom. We're gonna race!" That hug was priceless. Curt's fave today was the bumper cars and just "hanging with the boys, just, you know, bumper cars, the ferris wheel, which threw me for a loop." That was Curt's first ever ferris wheel ride in his 39 years. ;)

I am blessed.

Joanie sent this to me, and though I usually don't do "forwards", this was just too fun. OK, so I'm cheating by blogging it and not emailing my responses. I know. I'm a cheat. But this is still fun this way. For me anyway.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:30 am - and that's late - I usually have to get up at 5:30

2. Diamonds or pearls? pearls

3. What was the last film you saw at the movies? Ratatouille (sp???)

4. What is your favorite TV show? The Office and CSI Miami and Burn Notice and Law & Order SVU

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? coffee and blueberry yogurt with granola

6. What is your middle name? Leighann

7. What food do you dislike? brussel sprouts

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? The mix I made from iTunes - Counting Crows, Dave Matthews Band, Maroon 5, and way more

9. What kind of car do you drive? Ford Windstar van

10. Favorite sandwich? fried balogna on white bread

11. What characteristics do you despise? lying, hypocrisy, evil

12. Favorite item of clothing? pjs, esp. my new cherry pjs from Target's clearance rack - 12 bucks

13. If you could go anywhere in the world for a vacation, where would you go? Camden, Maine

14. What color is your bathroom? a crazy mix of florals - nope, not wallpaper. A mural of sorts the previous owner painted. I usually love it.

15. Favorite brand of clothing? Eddie Bauer

16. Where would you retire? Roanoke, Va.

17. Most memorable birthday? my 38th at school when a parent brought me my favorite breakfast of REAL oatmeal, the slow-cooked kind, and a humongous cake and my class sang and did the congo line around the room

18. Favorite Sport to watch? golf

19. Furthest place you are sending this? blogger.com

22. Favorite saying? holy moley

23. When is your birthday? 9/29

24. Are you a morning person or a night person? night person. though I don't get to stay up late anymore.

25. What is your shoe size? 7

26. Pets? Emma The Dog

27. What did you want to be when you were little? architect

28. What are you today? wife, mom, teacher

29. What is your favorite candy? chocolate covered anything

30. What is your favorite flower? daisies

31. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Saturdays - sleep in

32. What church/synagogue do you attend? Christ Church (orthodox Episcopal)

33. What are you listening to right now quiet: something on moonshine stills on History Channel. Ever had strawberry damson's???

34. What was the last thing you ate? bbq chicken wrap from Red Robin

35. Do you wish on stars? no

36. Do you believe in Angels? yep

37. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Yellow or periwinkle

38. What is your pet peeve? those cards in magazines that fall out as you flip the pages, tufts of Emma The Dog hair on my bed, spam

39. Last person you spoke to on the phone? my friend Carri

40. Do you like the person who sent this to you? yep, wish I could see her more often. Almost visited the area this weekend, but too much going on here. :(

41. Favorite soft drink? diet Pepsi

I did it. I drove to Richmond, Va., and back. Just me and the boys. While Curt was at his leadership training with the Boy Scouts, Camden, Benjy and I made the 6+ hour trip to Richmond for my cousin's wedding. I had been overly anxious about it for weeks, dreading the drive and the stress of planning a trip virtually alone. I had let it slip to Camden that I was nervous about it, and he promised he'd pray for me. His teacher said he'd asked her to pray as well. :) Sweet kid.

Well, by the time I'd come home from school on Friday, I was calm and relaxed. I had a real peace about the trip. And before we hit the road, I pulled out my book of scripture by Joyce Mayer - scripture to speak over any situation. I turned to the chapter on "confidence" and read out loud each scripture on the page. The boys at patiently in the back, listening. Camden, I do believe, appreciated this new little ritual. I believe he's really understanding the power of prayer.

The most amazing thing happened on this drive. As we headed down I-95 in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I knew I needed some spiritual uplifting, so I ejected Counting Crows from the CD player and popped in Wow Worship. (Really, that's the name of it. hehehe) The praise and worship tunes really set my mind at ease in the heavy traffic. And I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that my van was surrounded by angels. I felt totally safe. Totally kept. Wow. It was really cool.

Here are some pix of our trip - all taken on the night of Tonya's wedding to Jeff. I must add that she was the most beautiful bride I've ever seen. Just like a princess. I cannot even express how much it meant to me that we made this trip. Not only to meet Tonya's husband, but also to see family for something other than a funeral. A short trip it was, but a blessed time.

Just a few pix.

I haven't bothered to take many photos since, oh, around July.
Here's a few from the past couple of weeks.