Good Byes

I am horrible, horrible, horrible at good byes.  I try to avoid them at all costs, will pretend they are not coming up until the last minute, and then I just zone out until it's over and I cry.  We moved a lot when I was a kid, and we said some really big good byes when we first moved to the United States  - to our town, our country, school, all our friends, relatives, it was HARD.  I still remember those weeks of good byes and how hard they were, and in way I never really got over it. Of course I am glad we are here - I have been teaching Sophia the Star Spangled Banner and I still can't sing it without getting choked up.  I LOVE this country.  I can't imagine my life without my husband and friends and everything here.  But I think that whole moving across the world thing just made me afraid of ever saying a long good bye.

But, we are saying good bye... my dad and his wife and son are moving away. To Portugal! To live on boat!! This has been my dad's retirement plan for as long as I can remember.  I'm happy for him.  But I am so, so sad for me.  And actually, even more so, for my kids.

Yesterday we went to the splash pad by our house - a great way to pretend there is no good bye coming up!

Sophia, Max, and Amelia marched all around the playground.  Sophia made them call her "ma'am" and salute her.  Goofballs!!

I LOVE the splash pad - we can walk to it from our house, and it is just such a nice option when it's 500 degrees outside. The kids were exhausted when we got home - bonus!  They watched video on my computer at pbskids.org.

And before bed - snuggles and books.

(this is one of my favorite pictures EVER. I'm framing it and putting it in the girls' room.  Amelia ADORES my dad.  And they were laughing because Henry is so silly.)

I really wanted a picture of my dad with all four kids, but it didn't happen.  They were either wet or dirty or someone was napping, all day.  At night, we waited too long and Wyatt got crabby





Saying good bye was hard... they left this morning before I went to work.  I got to work and just didn't look at anyone, so I wouldn't cry.  Well, my secretary's son got married over the weekend and she started telling me about the wedding, and I started telling her about my dad leaving, and then she had me pull up Child of Mine (Carole King) - the song she and her son danced to at the wedding - and suddenly we were both sobbing. But now that the good bye is over, I am excited for my dad and the exciting adventures that lie ahead.  And I think I've talked him into coming back - maybe next summer for a little family reunion in Florida :)