Home Too Fast

The last two weeks blew by in a flash! We had so much fun and packed in a ton. Of course, I didn't get a chance to blog about nearly as much stuff as I wanted, but when you've got a finite amount of time with the people you love it's hard to spend much of it in front of the computer. Here are some things I missed:

The kids got to have a spa in my parents atrium spa tub.



Against my better judgment, I did let my dad teach Max to shoot.


Yay for weapons. *Sigh* Watch him murder a tin can here.

A day at the beach in Glenelg.






The kids camped out for two nights in one of the back paddocks. Mum, hubby and I went out to see their camp and have a drink. Then we went back to the comfort of Tori Park while Dad and the kids braved the Aussie "outback."





And, to add another item to the list of Things I Let the Kids Do with BBD that Were Against my Better Judgment, Dad and Max built a go cart.





My dad says I need to relax and let kids be kids. I tried on this trip, I really did. But listen to how terrified I sound here. And here.(I know, no helmet. Please don't report me to CAS.)

It wasn't all scary. Sarah pets Will, the pony.





One of the best things was how much fun it was to see the kids with their little cousin, Sam. They just love him so much and really got to know him on this trip.






Plus, Sam waited for us to get there to start walking! See it here

He's such a cutie. Watch him eat dinner here and here.













Oh, and in case you're wondering, Sarah did sing the song for Fiona. But it happened spontaneously when we were at Cleland and I only got the end of it on my parents' camera and I didn't get a chance to upload the video before I left. You couldn't really hear much of it anyway because of the noise in the cafe where we were sitting having lunch. Aside from all that, it was really sweet. Sarah climbed up in Fiona's lap and started humming and Fiona asked, "Does that song have words to it?" and she just started singing it. The look on Fiona's face was priceless. I wish I could have captured it.

It's hard to believe it's been two weeks. And that we're home.

Now is usually the time when I set about moping around, feeling pretty sorry for myself. But I don't know, I don't feel like that this time. I think it's because, after two weeks of having the best time with my family while simultaneously watching the devastation in Japan unfold on the news, I feel pretty lucky. Lucky to live where I live, lucky to be able to travel all the way to Australia to visit them. And then there's just plain, old lucky to be alive. It makes you wonder what's happening in the universe to see such a catastrophe and then the subsequent fallout. You have to wonder what the ramifications will be in the years to come for the rest of the planet.

So I'm counting my blessings. It does suck to be away from my family but there is an upside. I'm sure if we lived close by and I saw them all the time family dinners, shopping trips, going for coffee, all the things I enjoyed so much the past two weeks would seem mundane. Maybe I wouldn't hug them lots and tell them how much I love them. Maybe I would take them for granted.

Don't get me wrong. It would be nice to see them all the time. To pop in, have spontaneous get togethers, Sunday dinner, the usual stuff. But that's not my reality. And instead of lamenting it, I'm going to start embracing it. Our family bonding isn't watered down. It's concentrated. All the fun you can have, everyday for two weeks. Boom. Done. What a blast.

And if you see your family all the time so that you don't often feel the need to hug them or tell them you love them, do it now.

You never know what the future holds.