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I thought first I call it "Birthday celebration #2 and #3". You will see why.

Wednesday October 10 we arrived home about 6 pm. We love to travel but then, it is nice to come home too. As nice as it is, we miss the kids when we are gone. So, Helen had asked shyly whether we could help her out Thursday morning and bring William to school. Of course but it would be easier for us if he could spend the night. Happily she brought him at 8 pm and Ben was there too because William had to finish his science project to take to school the next day. Ben was great explaining to him how you purify water and he understood.

After school on Thursday James and I took him to the zoo. It is not far from their house and they have a family membership. Needless to say that William ran off some steam.

At about 5:30 pm we all had to be at the school. I am not sure what the event was but it was very interesting. They had challenges in different rooms and the children had a piece of paper to sign off on it when they had done a station.

I have to try this one when I have 15 minutes, or, when I have 1 marshmallow.

For afterwards Helen, Ben and William had invited us to dinner. Guess what dessert was?

VIDEO!     (0:33)   You see that not only William wanted to help blow out the candles but also the A/C.

As one of the birthday presents Helen parted with "golden eggs". Her "ladies" gifted a dozen. Very much appreciated. Helen knows which egg was laid by which hen.

Ha, Friday was William's first day of fall break so he spent the night again. He was so good and it was a lot of fun. We have a Wii in Nashville and he is very good at the tennis and golf and baseball. It's a saver when it is cold and miserable outside.

But later in the day it got warmer and the sun came out. We picked Helen up and went to Cheekwood. We have a membership there. Every fall they have a display of a good number of different scarecrows made by different clubs and organizations. It's always fun.

And William always likes to go to the train display. They had totally redone it about a year or so ago in a different place but we think it is not as nice as it used to be. A shame.

Lunchtime. There is a cafeteria. William and I waited outside on a table in the sun. James and Helen were inside getting the food. It took a while and William was getting impatient. I gave him my iPhone and ideas what to photograph. 

Mommy through the glass door. 

Flowers.

 Finally.

Another photo by William.

Oops, no picture of the large pumpkin house but William wished for a pumpkin and took a while to select the very best one.

All day Saturday we drove Nashville to Glen Allen. About 600 miles. 10 hours with a few breaks. Luckily the weather was kind and the traffic too. No ball games anywhere.

Sunday was packed full. Church of course. Nice to see our friends. But we couldn't stay for the spaghetti lunch because we met Sherry and John (friends from Grace Church in Paducah Kentucky) for lunch. They were here for a wedding the day before. It was nice to see them and we all talked a storm.

But, we had to leave right from there because we had opera tickets. First ones of the season. We always like to go to the pre-lecture about the performance. The lecture was great. The opera not quite our thing but still, it was an experience.

Oh yes, Monday was a full day too. The reason why we had to come back from Nashville in a hurry. My pre-op lecture and tests. Coach James had to attend too. Well, not had to but it was recommended. It was very good and impressive but I ended up with information overload. Good thing I have a lot in writing. I have to do exercises and all sorts of things to get ready for my new knee.

In the evening we were invited to dinner "over the river". The children couldn't have been any cuter. Papa, Papa, Omi, Omi. Who doesn't melt then?

Loved to see their art work. Their Nanny Robin has many good ideas and activities.

I had been in a baking mood and brought some fresh chocolate-pumpkin cupcakes. Sarah stuck one candle into one of them and we sang happy birthday for James.

These two photos are from Sarah. Colin is out-of-focus because he was jumping happily.

 Owen has a funny way to eat cupcakes. Always like this.

Tuesday morning James got some of his birthday presents. Fresh eggs which are not kept in the refrigerator do not cook the same as bought ones. Also, they are not all the same size. I was lucky and he deemed them good. Next time only 4 minutes instead of 4 and a half though.

When I texted Helen this photo, the reply was "Patsy and Oreo".

I try to do a little walking in the neighborhood. Is this bush blooming?

Yesterday our good friend Julie invited us for dinner. She reads all my blogs and even complains when there is none for a while. At the end of dinner she said mockingly  that she was disappointed that I had not taken any photos of her food. Yes, she does read my blogs. 

I agree, the dinner was very nice and the presentation of the veggies outstanding. I should have asked for permission. This WAS dessert:

We had fun!