It's Only Been Two-and-a-Half Months Or So...

Since our trip to Seattle, that is. And here are the pictures! I was going through all of our pictures yesterday and realized that I'd actually taken some good ones that capture a little of the fun we had. (It seems like I never take enough and I usually get people with their eyes closed or I get their hand over their face because they've realized what I'm doing before my camera can snap the picture.) So, anyway, without further adieu, here they are!

Ella in the car. We were almost there!

Elizabeth, ready to get out of the car, we couldn't get there fast enough for her!

Will, demonstrating how squished he and his long legs are in the back seat.

Poor Ben. He always drives most, if not all of the trip. Thank heavens he's a good sport about it.

Will and Manga. Not sure what they're looking at.

Ella and Cooper.

Elizabeth and Cooper.


Will and Cooper.

Bennett on the toys at the beach.

Cooper wisely took the opportunity to catch a few zzz's while my kids were preoccupied with the toys. I think it was the only time my girls left the poor guy alone!

Will on the rope climber.

What a beautiful girl! Emma sure loves to swing!

Elizabeth loves to swing too.

And Ella won't be left out of anything that Emma and Elizabeth are doing!

Super Woman Tera. She had three little girls all in constant motion and got Cooper to go to sleep. She's Super Mom!

Elizabeth trying to give me a heart attack by flipping out of the swing onto her head.

Emma loves to swing more than any other child I know!

Will, Elizabeth, and Bennett walking back to the beach to do some crabbing.

Ella, Tera, and baby Cooper.

Elizabeth and Bennett, all ready to go out and get some crabs!

Emma and Ella sharing some crackers at the park.

And last but not least, a perfect way to sum up the trip, Cooper getting one of my kids' messy faces squished into his hair.

Where Did I Put That Crystal Ball...

Both of my old blogs were pretty much peppy and comical. For the most part, anyway. Once I did post about how Ben and I couldn't agree to whether or not he should go to an extended family function with me. And a very nice man from the Netherlands named Jock chimed in. I'm not really sure who's side he was on. I'm pretty sure it was mine, but really it could have gone either way. (Sadly, I didn't transfer his comment from my first blog to my second, and so now it's lost and cannot be reviewed further. I know... I know.)

Well, the whole peppy and comical thing I had going made me feel like I couldn't post on days when I wasn't feeling particularly peppy and comical. And maybe you've noticed the fact that I haven't really posted much in the last long while. Well, that's why. I don't want to be a downer. I don't want my kids to read posts that were written when I was feeling less than stellar. But, since everyone has ups and downs, and I'm pretty sure that my children won't remember me as perfectly happy all the time, it's ok to not try to portray myself like that here.

Our lives are kind of in limbo right now. And that is so hard for me. Ben is almost done with all of his undergraduate work. It's gone so quickly and so slowly all at once. And over the next few months we will be getting all of our options in order so that we can make the decision that will decide what happens in the next few years of our lives. And whatever choice we make will really effect all of our future opportunities for our little family. That's big! Exciting and scary all at once. But I find myself feeling really restless. It's the same way I feel right after Christmas. I always want to go somewhere warm and sunny and relaxing at that time of year. I fight to feel cheerful because I know that there are months left until the world warms up, and all of the fun and beauty of the Holidays is gone for another year. I guess that I actually feel that way before every season changes. I'm always ready for it to happen weeks before it does. And just like I have no power over changing the seasons, I can't make these decisions present themselves any faster. I want to do things like search for schools and homes and unique things to do and see about all of the places that we could live. I want to look at universities that I could attend. I want to figure out what grocery store I would shop at and what style of house I would choose for that area. I even want to figure out what plants I could grow in a garden in where ever we end up. I want to map how far away we'll live from our families and research how much plane tickets to fly for visits could cost. And I can't do any of that. It's driving me nuts! It's making me feel restless and grumpy. I won't live in my apartment at this time next year. But I have no idea where I'll be.

I just keep thinking about how funny it is that all growing up I just wanted to stay in the small town where I grew up. I would have been so happy to live and die there. To have and raise at least 7 children and to live in the house they grew up in until the day that I died. And how my little sister wanted to travel the world and have the option to live anywhere. Well, I have the option to live anywhere, and she's building a house in that small town.