Routines

It's been about a week since I last posted. It doesn't seem like too much is going on, mostly just trying to figure out what our routine will be and getting used to the new rhythm of each day. We are all finally healthy, although Joe only did partial workouts this week because he never felt 100%. He'll start back full force tomorrow.

This week we took Rowan to a Halloween party at a church in Stockton, then visited that church for worship this morning. Our good friends (more like family, really) in Jonesboro, Dave and Rebecca Matthews, lived and worked in Stockton for several years about a decade ago. Quail Lakes is the church they attended while they lived here, so it came with a great recommendation. We really enjoyed the service--it was lively, and as diverse of a congregation as we've seen in a long time.

I just overheard Rowan telling Joe that we left something in Arkansas at "our house that couldn't move." Interesting to hear a 2-year-old's interpretation of living in an RV. Speaking of Rowan, we're not sure if it is move related, or just 2 year old testing related, but she has been a handful the last few weeks. Some of it was being sick, but since then, she's been pushing limits and has been super whiney. She doesn't want to take baths and she doesn't want to go to bed. Now that she can get up out of her bed, she finds a myriad of reasons to do so. And this from a kid who doesn't nap! You'd think she would fall asleep exhausted at the end of the day. Not so. The one saving grace in the sleep department is that she's been sleeping in past 6:30 AM....sometimes even giving us the luxury of 8:00 or 8:30. I'm not crazy about early mornings...so the extra sleep has been fabulous.

This afternoon we got to spend several hours out on Tye's boat. Another pole vaulter who lives and trains here, Tommy, has a boat too. So they took a bunch of us out, and several folks even braved the cold water to wakeboard and "surf"....a boat sport I've never seen, but looked like a lot of fun. They used a surfboard and surfed in the wake of a fairly slow moving boat...even did it without a rope for quite a distance once they found the "sweet spot." You can see some cool photos by clicking on the link at the end of this post. It was gorgeous out today (the locals are amused by our continual enthusiasm for the beautiful weather--apparently it's always like this, but we think they take it for granted!) and we had a lot of fun being out on the water. There are endless waterways around here, so there will be more to explore. We ended the day by sharing a nice dinner at a local Chinese restaurant.

Another highlight of the week was meeting a young family at our RV park. One of my main concerns about this year is that Rowan would have adequate (as in, any) playmates. She had such great friends in Jonesboro; I wondered who she would play with here. This family is here for 6 months...the husband is an iron worker with the union so they move around. They have a 3 year old daughter, Zaylie, and an infant son. Rowan and I just went and knocked on their door this week (hey, you have to be bold, right?) and the girls played outside together several times already. Yeah!

I've added some photos to Flickr, a random assortment of Halloween, the building, Rowan on the computer, and today on the water. Click here to check them out.