This week has been a roller coaster....one day we were climbing up and needing help, the next day we were coasting by with the air streaming through our hair, and then repeat. The highlights include

• Pryce pitched for the first time ever during his opening season game of Fall baseball. (Struck the guys out, yes he did!)
• Ryan left on Sunday for a week of work away from home.
• We met up with the Gruskin family in Atlanta for a day of play at the Georgia Aquarium. (It happened to be a memorable day for us all as it was also the re-adoption day of little Junie)
• The children and I spent the night in a hotel located by one of our favorite places - Northpoint Mall. It is a fave because it has something for everyone - Apple store for my guys; American Girl for my girls; and, drum roll please.....Cheesecake Factory for ME! Yummm.
• The hotel was great fun, until, the fire alarm went off at midnight. The alarm was the loudest, most piercing sound I have ever heard. And it went off forever. And my kiddos, all four of them, slept right through it. Unbelievable. I spent the next hour lying awake in bed trying to figure out just how I would manage to get all four of my children to safety if there truly was a fire.
• I was getting the children ready for bed. There was a room with two double beds and then another room with a pull out couch. I slated the girls to sleep on the pull out couch. MK was most upset. When I asked her what was wrong she said, "I want someone to sleep with me in here." I said, "Mason-Kate, Maddox is going to sleep with you in here and mommy and the boys will be right in the next room - the door will be wide open and I will leave a light on so you can see." She immediately began to protest and cried out, "No, mommy, I need a HUMAN in here with me!"

Alas, Friday came. It was a long week for all involved. I think in all of our thirteen years of marriage and our two years of dating, this was by far the longest we have ever been away from one another. And our children. MK seems to be our one with words lately and she said the cutest thing tonight when we went to pick up Finley from the kennel. Giggling she cried out, "I am so happy. It is so much fun getting our family back together again!"