The Escape

Vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking any longer.

I don't know who said it, but I believe it.

I needed a vacation. I told Adam I wanted to go somewhere sunny. Because of the sandals. And also because of the sunny aspect.

I proposed Las Vegas.

Adam gave me his best incredulous look.

And he's right. I don't like Las Vegas. It's the blight the rest of Nevada wishes it could just flick away but the internet is dripping with deals to Las Vegas. And it's sunny there.

But no (relax, Adam) I don't need to go somewhere but I did need to escape.

Really.

And since I thought I mostly wanted to escape from my children, I decided to escape to my children. (It's all about how you spin it in your head.)

We played hooky today.

No school.

We were eating pancakes when we should have been doing phonics and fractions.

Mark and I started MHOP (Mom and Mark's International House of Pancakes). He was the stirrer. He said we could have a restaurant where we ran out of everything except pancakes.

After breakfast Emma and I painted our fingers and toes.




I decided that blue, yellow and green nail polish makes me look sickly.

Braeden and I took goofy pictures with photo booth on the computer.

we're going to take this to the dentist next time we go...save money on x-rays

a twelve year old boy's nightmare...two moms looking over his shoulder

me, trying to squeeze some wisdom into that brain

Emma joined us and things got more dramatic as they tend to do when Emma joins.




We had pizza at Alfy's about 2:30 in the afternoon (hey, we were on vacation).

I read aloud to them in front of the fire.



It was all so lovely and non stressful and I felt better than I'd felt in awhile.

And then.

The inevitable.

It was time to go to activity days (Emma) and swimming (Braeden and Mark). I rallied the troops to get ready. I enlisted Braeden's help in getting Mark ready because otherwise Mark wanders around aimlessly.

Soon Braeden was in the van, reading and waiting for us. Mark was getting his sandals on. We were heading out the door. It was time to go. I asked Mark where his swim bag was.

He looked at me like I had asked him where his alien twin was.

Never mind.

I asked Braeden if he had the swim bag.

More vacant looks.

I hurried up to Mark's bedroom, found the swim bag under the detritus in the closet, stuffed a towel in it and hurried back to the van, now late.

"Do you remember me telling you to get Mark ready?" I demanded of Braeden whose nose was deep in his book.

He looked up, startled. "Yeah, I did. I told him to get ready."

All of the sudden I needed another vacation but it was time for activity days and then swimming.

Nothing lasts forever. Not even goodwill.

But then I looked again at the pictures from today.

Some things last forever.



I do love this boy. I love all three of these aggravating little souls.

And I will forever.