next week we head out for our annual beach trip.
we actually start thinking about the following years trip as we're driving home from the current years trip with the smell of the ocean still in our noses, and the remnants of sand still in our clothes, and our toes, and the many other nooks and crannies that can gather and hold sand and salt water. i love that my kids have inherited my love of the beach and all things "laid back", and that steven, having been born and raised in the deserts of arizona, can appreciate that kind of life style and has willing adopted it as his own. this year tho' i am especially grateful for our family trip.
the past four weeks have been crazy busy. i've been gone at least some part of the week or weekend since the end of may. we had the trek which left liam and caitlin home. a few days after our return i headed to ohio for ariana & dericks nuptuals. then this past weekend i was in smalltown, arizona acting as photographer for my sister-in-laws niece's (uncle's brother's cousins) wedding.
don't get me wrong...the trips have all been wonderful and well worth it. the trek was truely amazing. i wouldn't have missed the opportunity to reconnect with dinah and her family for anything in the world. i even appreciate the lessons learned on this last trip, mainly that i stink at group shots, i suck at flash photography, and i really need to take some classes because i discovered that i really do like photographing people, mostly kids, and with some experience i might actually get over my nerves and self doubting and one day be half way good.
the problem with all these trips is that we have been apart so much as a family...we haven't been able to do them all together. and i have REALLY missed steven and the kids. i mean i call them each day just to touch base, but it's not the same. i miss their faces. i miss their touch, and their kisses. i miss their voices without the ambiance of cellular static. being apart might be easier if i just loved steven and the kids...the problem is that i really, genuinely, like them. i like having them around. i like the jokes we share. i like the laughter. i like wrestling with connor and thinking that i might actually be able to "take him" this time. i like spending time with them even if it's just to cuddle on the couch and watch tv. i especially like it, love it even, when steve gets the giggles and just can't stop, usually over something he has said that he thinks is funny!
and so, at last, finally, and without further ado...next saturday we will pick up the rental van, load the trailer to the hilt with everything from tents to boogie boards to beach umbrella's, and head out in the very wee hours of sunday morning to california...as a family. all together. all at the same time. all blessed to have each other.
of course i am a realist. i don't live completely in a fantasy world - i know full well that i may be rethinking some of this all-togetherness after about six hours in the cramped quarters of a mini-van...but at least i'll be able to gaze fondly upon their bright and shining faces as i'm threatening them within an inch of their very lives and debating whether or not to leave them on the side of the road.
