Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Sponsored by a Hose

Despite my fear in mid-May that our summer was nothing but one blank canvas, stretched emptily before us as far as the eye could see, we've been so busy for the last few weeks that I can barely keep track of myself, let alone two kids, a dog and normal household tasks. So, I'm finally sitting down to catch up a little courtesy of our hose on the patio - it turns out two small people can be very entertained by water, especially when it's reaching a hundred degrees every day. But don't worry, it's only eighty right now and they're in the shade.

So I left off at Wyatt's birthday, which was followed by a quick jaunt to Omaha for me and the kids. You see, our fabulous friends, the Rifes, were passing through on their epic journey from Virginia to Alaska. Wyatt often tells me he misses Virginia and specifically Isaac, so when I found out they'd be only a few hours away, I had to try to make it work. Normally the drive from here to there would be about two and a half hours. I say normally, because normally the Missouri river isn't experiencing doomsday flooding that closes down portions of major interstates. Luckily we were able to make it on backroads that were much more scenic anyway.

I told the kids we were going on an adventure, but opted not to divulge exactly what we would be doing in hopes of avoiding the "how much longer?" question every four minutes. The kids were game and we headed out around 8:30 on a random Thursday morning. By the time we reached Nebraska City and had only 45 minutes to go, I told Wyatt who'd we be seeing. His reaction was priceless and I wish I would've had a video camera out to capture it. It went something like this: "Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! Mommy, thank you! I'm so excited! Mommy, I'm so excited I get to see Isaac! Thank you thank you! I've been dreaming of Isaac for sixty-six years." So I guess he liked the idea. Natalie was equally excited, though expresses herself a little differently. Namely she just sat in her seat with a gleeful expression and said, "yay! Iyaax, Sam-ee-yel, Eh-yee!" while kicking her feet.

genuine joy















yay! friends!
It was really hot that day, so after hanging out at Kristen's sister's house and grabbing some lunch, Kristen and I took the kids to a bouncy house where we all (of course) had a great time. I like to hope that Wyatt and Isaac will always be buddies as they seem to have a real bond with one another. And, well, who knows? Maybe Natalie and Samuel will, too, since they seem to have their own special relationship.


like puppies or long lost friends, these two couldn't
stop hugging at lunch

Natalie & Samuel spent a lot of time pushing each
other around in little cars

the closest we got to all the kids sitting down
long enough for a picture


The separation was a bit painful (again) and Wyatt shed some big crocodile tears because he misses his friend so much. I was able to numb his pain with some airplane sightings and "travel treats" for both kids on the way home. Near the end of our long drive home, Wyatt said he'd really like to be out of the car and stop driving. I asked whether it would be better to have not been in the car and not seen Isaac, or whether the drive was worth it so we got to see his friend. After careful consideration, he announced he'd like to fly to see Isaac next time. Smart kid. I hope maybe we can! 

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