My family is grumpy.
The kind of grumpiness that comes from a mixture of way too many late nights in a row, being homesick for your own bed and your own space, and that melancholy feeling that no matter how long you have had with people you love, you will still miss seeing them around now that it has become the norm.
Poor Lucy has had the worst of it, I'm afraid.
We are in the midst of a serious "battle of the wills" right now.
And it's killing me.
I am sitting outside where she's supposed to be taking a nap with my back against the door to hold her in there. I know that sounds mean but seriously, she HAS to get some sleep. She is so tired she can hardly see straight. She is bawling her head off because she wants her Dora doll I threatened to take away if she kept at her incessant screaming, which she did.
And I'm wishing with all my might I had chosen a different threat.
The poor girl has slept in three different beds over the last four nights (which is hard for her anyway), and has been up each night multiple times with bad dreams or just falling off where she's supposed to be sleeping. And there have been no naps in sight for a long time.
For the last week or so she has been asking incessantly when we are going home, and man alive, I am ready to get her there...into her own bed.
The wheels are falling off the bus.
No one has practiced forever. No reading time has been enforced for the last week. Summer goals have flown out the window. My kids have complained and whined and argued about everything from not getting the right color plate at lunch to who gets to sit in which seat in the car.
Yes, it is time for our summer adventure to draw to a close. I suppose all good things must eventually come to an end. We must get back to real life where potty training, school preparation, blistering heat and getting serious about finishing summer goals in the next week loom ominously before us.
On Friday, after scrubbing and cleaning 'til blisters started popping out, we bid adieu to this beautiful sight:
(But not without me commanding my kids over and over to soak in the beauty of the lake as it's rich radiance shrunk slowly behind us in the distance...and making Grace take this picture out her window as we sped on to new adventures.)
We met up with Dave in Salt Lake and got to stay at his sister's house for the weekend (more pictures on that when I get them downloaded from my other camera).
The kids had fun with more cousins while Dave and I went to my 20-year high school reunion.
I am aware of this fact: 20-year high school reunions are for old people. But there my dear friends and I were, amidst our wrinkles and a sea of vaguely familiar other faces from the past, celebrating twenty years of knowing each other, becoming who we are with each other, and being thankful that we had each other to cling to for better or for worse through those high school years (two of our best friends were missing because of other family obligations...we missed you guys!).
I am one of those people who loved high school. I cried when it ended. It was pretty interesting to see how people I haven't kept in touch with over the years have changed and become themselves since then. I was so happy Dave was able to come with me.
(Can you tell?)
And now we head home...by tomorrow we'll all be sleeping soundly in our own beds, with thousands of pictures and memories of a summer well spent with people we adore.Labels: lucy, travel
I am one of those people who loved high school. I cried when it ended. It was pretty interesting to see how people I haven't kept in touch with over the years have changed and become themselves since then. I was so happy Dave was able to come with me.
(Can you tell?)