October Recap Part Three: A Monday Surprise and the Best Halloween Ever

Back at work after my meanderings through Wisconsin, I settled into the usual routine and began thinking about maybe planning my next trip, to Missouri, at the end of the month.  Things were steady and calm.  That is, until my older sister went into labor.

Accurate representation

On the morning of Saturday, October 15th, our family welcomed Baby L into the world!!  I got the news while hanging out in the Park Store and was soon struggling to stop myself from bursting at the seams with happiness!  While I hadn't been planning on making a trip down to see Baby L until November, things worked out that I was given the go-ahead to take off of work and see the new baby while he was still brand new - one of the perks of having the greatest boss ever.

Since my family didn't think I was going to come down until November, in fact I had received an email shortly after L's birth from my mother telling me explicitly not to come home until then, I decided to keep the fact that I was now en route with half of my stuff crammed into my car hidden.  It's a long drive to Kansas, and I was lucky enough to be able to stay with a good friend in Omaha on Sunday night - and got to see enough of Omaha to convince me it's a pretty cool city - and then drove into my hometown around noon on Monday, walking into the hospital room like wasn't a big deal...

Rarely do my planned surprises work, but this one did :-)



Looking at this picture now just makes me want to immediately drive
to my sister's house and pick him up to snuggle.

I was able to spend about a day and a half in Kansas before heading back to the Driftless.  Just in time to prepare for the big Halloween Costume Party hosted by my cousin, and attended by what felt like half of the town.

To sum up, the party rocked.  Games, prizes, shameful quantities of yummy food (two words: oreo cake), and everyone's amazing costumes.  Since I'm always unsure of others' stance on having their pictures posted so publicly, I'll only show my costume...if I ever seek permission I'll post up others!

"Badass Red Riding Hood"

What exactly was I?  I tell you what I was!  I was a fearless version of Red Riding Hood, one who hunted down the wolf herself, and looked good doing it. 

I think I found my Halloween costume for the next 5 years.