Labor Day Weekend & Papa H's Retirement!

Friday was Papa H's last day of work!!!  To celebrate, Chris & Kim flew out to Utah and surprised their father. Don thought he was just meeting Diana after work to play a quick round of golf, but Chris, Kim, and 2 family friends from Idaho were also there to greet him!!! I don't think any of them can even remember the last time they were together, by themselves, as a family of four and I know they've been treasuring every minute.
Chris will return tomorrow night and the girls & I are so ready to see him again. Normally having Chris gone for five days wouldn't be so bad, but I woke up with a fever the morning he left. And b/c it's a holiday weekend, nearly all my NYC friends were out of town, so I've been trying to entertain two rambunctious girls by my sick self.  The girls have been awesome. Yes, there have been tantrums, but they have also been happily playing by themselves for hours while Mommy rests on the couch. And we've also managed to sneak in some fun at a few parks, at the pet store, shopping, and going out to eat. This morning I finally felt better, so we walked across the East River to Randall's Island. I was planning to go all out and have a picnic but b/c of cloudy skies and intermittent rain, I decided to do a quicker trip instead.  We wandered all around the grassy island, looked at some horses, picked flowers, ate snacks, and threw rocks in the river. I only had my phone to take pics, so here are the few that I caught.

I love how Noelle is looking at her beloved sister in this pic

Giggling. Always giggling.

It was a great Labor Day, but we miss our Daddy!!!!!