The kids flew to my parent's house in San Diego for their first solo visit. 10 days! They did so very well flying on their own, and as far as i can tell, they got to do a lot and see family from both sides. They swam a ton, they went to the beach, the fair, saw fireworks, went to the movies, and got spoiled from their grandparents. What more could a kid want? The bummer about them going on their own, is that i can't take photos of them experiencing these things! i have seen some that Mikayla took of them, which i looked at over and over. And we did give them cameras to use...i can't wait to see what those look like. haha. My mom sent home some things with Ashlyn that had been mine. Cool stuff like my old Caboodle!!! And these sweet wooden banks that used to be mine and my brothers. I think they were presents from a Japanese student we once had stay with us. They are in perfect condition. i LOVED those little banks. My old Kimono...stuff that i once loved and had no idea until recently that my mom still had.
We picked them up from the airport and i don't really think they ever stopped talking. They told all kinds of things they saw and did and kept reminicing with each other...they "fought" over who could tell a certain thing...they were happy as clams. They are golden from the sun...lightly tanned (i had no idea this was possible on my children), a bit pink in some places, stark white in others (ahem...ben's tush!?? goodness). Ashlyn has this calm confidence about her that i had forgotten about. She just felt grown up to me. We stopped on the way home to let ben go to the bathroom, and she unbuckled, hopped on to the center console beside me, and just started chatting away. I loved every word that came out of their mouths last night. i soaked it all in.
When we got home, they were soooo excited to see the new place. They had decided to look at the whole house first and save their rooms for last :) And my goodness. They went crazy! Over and over they kept exclaiming how much they LOVED their rooms. The best rooms ever, the best house ever, so glad we moved here, etc, etc. Ben's new phrase in a satisfied tone is, "Livin' on the Ranch". I was sitting and talking with him at the table as he ate...telling him all about different things i've seen here, and there was a moment where he stopped eating, just looked at me with this face of love/joy/contentment, and he just climbed off his chair to give me the biggest hug and kiss. Adam told me how Ashlyn had hugged him and told him how much she just loves her room and was just thanking him for it (we painted it pink...something she has wanted for as long as i can remember). They were really just over the moon with everything.
I spent the evening soaking them in. Sitting in their rooms with each of them talking and helping them settle in. I thought about how life becomes 3 dimensional with them in it. I feel satisfied and complete with them around me. Don't get me wrong...there is a good sweetness to having adam to myself (even though we worked like dogs the whole time the kids were gone). I always enjoy and absolutely love being the two of us. But those kids came home and i kept sighing with happiness. i missed their voices and their faces. I was sitting in the living room with adam, i heard ashlyn walk out of the bathroom from taking a shower, and i heard her say, "The most awesome-ist parents in the WORLD." No doubt becauseshe was walking into her new room. It felt good to give them a new twist to their rooms. painting them and adding in "new" furniture...stuff that had already been in the house, but didn't have the same place to be in the new house. They each got a chair, i gave ashlyn my desk, etc. Today we'll hang stuff on their walls. We still need to find a real desk for ben (he's using a fold up table, poor kid!), but they are coming along. They love that horses walk by their windows (well, they are about 30+ feet away). It really does feel magical.
i could tell they are taking pride in their rooms this morning....i walked in to say hello, and both of them had already made their beds, ben was drawing a new picture to put up on his new magnet board, and every time they have something out, they put it back where it belongs. To bad it won't always be this way!! haha.
i love them. Happy Sunday :)
