Look Ma! No fever!

We finally emerged from our fever-ridden life today. Yesterday, Tessa's fever was around 99.6 all day. And today--back to normal!! She is the last of us to catch the dang-blasted flu. So she was the last one to feel cruddy and have to stay home from things. We missed trick-or-treating this year. Oh well. Maybe next year. Here is Tessa dressed up for the Halloween Parade at her preschool:

So, to celebrate, we went to the park and I took pictures because it was such a sunny bright day!

I have no idea who this little girl was. But you know how kids are--instant besties for the duration of park time.

Cavalia

We took Tessa to go see Cavalia recently. This was probably the most beautiful show I've ever seen involving horses. If you get a chance to go, I highly recommend it.

The horses were very friendly with the performers. They were also very gorgeous (the horses) and well trained. These people must practically eat, sleep and breath horses.
They started off the show with a large puddle in the arena. A woman came out and danced in the water. Then out came this white horse that she danced with and that drank water from her hands.

My favorite act was the woman who signaled about 10 horses to do tricks with just her voice and a lunge whip. It was mind blowing. I have lunged many a horse in my day. This was impressive.

The dressage was a breath-taking study in restraint and composure. Almost like ballet.

There were stunt/trick riders. And lots of acrobatic feats while performers bounced around on the end of wires over the horses' heads.

Tessa was very excited about going. She wanted to pose for a picture before we left.

And her anticipation was high while we sat waiting for the curtains to lift.

As usual, Anthony could hardly contain himself. He's so dramatic.

I had a blast and hope Tessa remembers it for a long time.

Planes, Trains, and Rental Cars

We recently traveled to Michigan for a few family reunions (Anthony's side). To make life more interesting, we took the train to Chicago. Which we half enjoyed and half didn't. It's not nearly as glamorous as you might think. Think really old airplane glam. Because it's like they took the bathrooms and accessories from old airplanes and put them on the train. But we did have a sleeper car. And the kids really enjoyed getting to color and bother one another.

When we got to Chicago, we took a taxi to our hotel. The kids really enjoyed the hotel room.
Jack liked holding the room key.

The next morning we went to Shedd Aquarium. We all enjoyed getting to see the sights there.

And this is why I need an SLR camera and a class on how to use it:

We got to watch a dolphin show.

And I was lucky enough to have Oreos from our hotel room in my bag for a snack when the natives got restless.

We rented a car in Chicago and drove the 4 hours to Grand Rapids. When we got into the hotel there, the kids acted like they had never seen a TV.

But the fun really started when the kids got together. I swear, all we as adults did was watch the kids having fun. I would like to propose an idea. Next time we all get together like this--maybe the adults should go out together one night. Without the kids. Why should they have all the fun??

Swimming was probably Tessa's favorite part of the whole trip. It's all she wanted to do, and she got to do a lot of it!! I think she was more sad to leave the pool than her cousins. She did draw several pictures of herself with her cousins and grandparents when we got home.

We flew home, and Tessa was about as bored as you could get. She was too short to see the TV's (and, frankly, too young to watch what they were showing). At one point, she looked out the window and asked why we had stopped. I tried to explain to her that we were going really fast above the clouds, but the ride was so smooth she had a hard time believing me.

Jack started out the flight in my lap. Then Anthony's lap. Then both our laps. Etc. He kept trying to unlatch the seat trays. And he was thoroughly annoying a guy sitting in front of us. Fortunately, he totally passed out about 40 minutes into the trip.
At this point, I was rocking a raging flu and couldn't wait to get home so I could collapse on the couch. Which is where I stayed for the next 72 hours. Everyone else caught it, too. Today marks the first day no one has a fever since we got back last Sunday (the 24th). Thank God for the little things.