Not with a bang, but a whimper . . .

You'd think, on the face of things, that we were all set to celebrate All Hallows Eve in style--we were (nearly) kid-free (Andrew was home with Grandma) and we were in Las Vegas for the weekend, with nearly all our expenses covered . . . But in fact, we were in Vegas for an academic conference (the International Writing Centers Association *and* the National Conference for Peer Tutors in Writing, aka IWCA/NCPTW--try saying that ten times fast) and Halloween slipped by us mostly unobserved.

We did, of course, briefly attend our ward's Halloween party on Wednesday evening (a chili cook-off, ostensibly, but without any prizes for best chili--what's up with that?). Andrew was thrilled to prance around in his elephant costume again, and of course, Evelyn was an adorable rhinoceros (see last week's post for pictures). One woman saw Evelyn and immediately started laughing, saying, "Have you ever seen anything so cute?" And of course, I haven't. :) But we had to leave before the festivities really got started, because the dinner had started late and by the time anything besides dinner was underway, it was Andrew's bedtime.

But we have full reports from Grandma that Andrew loved Halloween, and, far from being frightened by the skeletons on the neighbors' lawns (as he was last year), he insisted on exploring every single one of them. After going around the neighborhood, he helped Grandma hand out candy, bouncing up and down on the steps with excitement at each new arrival. Now, I think he's counting down the days (or would, if he knew how many there were) between now and Thanksgiving when he can go see Bubby and Poppy.

Dan and I left town early Thursday morning with a van full of students and Evelyn. Our ride down progressed smoothly, if uneventfully. We overheard one of the students comment on how leisurely the ride was, and Dan commented somewhat ruefully that he thought we were actually making pretty good time (compared to our usual time with both kids). Apparently stopping every couple hours was a luxury for them (a necessity for us, if we want to forestall cranky, hungry children). Anyway, we got down to Vegas Thursday afternoon with just enough time left to check into the hotel and still make it to the final session of the day.

Thursday evening we took the students to Maggiano's, our favorite Italian restaurant in Vegas. (It helped that we had a per diem--otherwise I'm sure we couldn't have justified the splurge). We had lots of food--all of it good. We ordered the family menu, which allowed us to get two appetizers, two salads, two pasta dishes, two meat entrees and two desserts. We sent most of the left-overs home with the students.

On Friday, I went to conference sessions in the morning and early afternoon (checking in periodically to feed Evelyn--it was a good thing our room was so close to the conference!). Robert and Trisha showed up around 2 p.m. to visit with Dan and the Baby. Having by then had my fill of the conference, I went with Dan and his parents to Trader Joe's and Fry's (the Costco of electronics, as Dan puts it). We had intended to do a group dinner again, but the students bailed on us--whether because they were tired, had too much homework, were disinclined to try Japanese food, or all of the above, we're not sure. So it was just a small family party that went to Osaka's for dinner. We ate in one of their tatami rooms (specially modified for Americans, of course, so we didn't actualy sit on the floor). Robert ordered lots of sushi, which was pretty good, but I preferred the teriyaki chicken and tempura that I had. Afterwards, we went to Toys R Us so Trisha could work on whittling down her Christmas list and then wandered around in one of the local malls and enjoyed seeing all the little kids in costume.

Saturday, we went to the first session of the conference and then headed back up to Provo, arriving in the early evening. All in all, I think it was a pretty successful trip. I think the students all learned some useful things about tutoring, and I came away with some good ideas about things to try with our Writing Fellows. Of course, I was also reminded that my profession seems composed of equal parts earnest, sincere folks trying to make a difference for others, and wacky individuals with obscure motivations (but seem to a large degree self-interested).

I also enjoyed the conference because it meant I ran into my former boss from Penn State, Jon Olson, who was presenting at the conference (and, it turns out, the recipient of IWCA's major award). Because he won an award, his wife, Cheryl Glenn (my dissertation director) was also there. It was wonderful to see both of them again, and to have the chance to introduce them to Evelyn. It was typical of Jon, too, that when he got up to accept his award (his big moment in the spotlight), he shared that moment with about twenty other people, having Cheryl stand up, having all his peer tutors come up to the stand with him, and mentioning all his former tutors (myself included) by name and having them stand. (He also embarrassed me quite a bit by adding, when I stood up, that I was one of the best rhet/comp students to come out of Penn State. I was flattered [and skeptical, but that's another story], but very, very embarassed).

Here's the view from our room in the Alexis Park hotel:


And here's a view of part of our suite (we had another room with a small kitchen unit and living area).
The picture of Evelyn made me laugh because it's so nearly the twin of a picture we took two years ago, at RSA in Memphis, when Andrew was the age Evelyn is now. I apparently have a (bad) habit of dragging spouse and children to academic conferences.

The rest of our weekend has passed pretty unspectacularly. We came home to find that Andrew had been sick (throwing up, diarrhea, etc. but we'll spare you the details). Because he still hadn't recovered this morning, we kept him home from church and Dan and I alternated attending our meetings. From the energy he exhibits, though, you'd never guess he was ill.

Evelyn, of course, remains a real sweetheart--one of the biggest things I appreciated about this conference was what a placid, malleable traveller she is (in sharp contrast to her brother at the same age!). As you can see, she's slowly starting to sit up. She can now sit more-or-less unsupported (she tends to topple over easiliy) if we prop her up on her hands.

And I keep trying, unsuccessfully, to capture her smiling on film. She has this huge, open-mouthed grin (Sarah calls it a verticle grin) that just splits her face when she's smiling. I'm not sure why she thinks she has to open her mouth so wide to smile, but it's sure cute.

Finally, in the spirit of the season we offer Andrew with his own unique musical take on Halloween . . . (Lest you be too impressed with the lyrics, we have to confess that they come from his Little Einstein's Halloween book. The tune, however, is all Andrew.) (Editor's note: We had trouble loading the video--check back, we'll have it up soon. We hope.)