Whirlwind

The weekend was a whirlwind but we are all back home safely. I was the last to leave Minneapolis and the first to get back. Luisa arrived a few hours after me and we just picked the kids up from the airport about an hour ago.

The kids had a great time with their grandparents and it sounds like they behaved themselves. Miguel reported he and Zeca only fought "a few times." Zeca told a story of Miguel accidentally elbowing a flight attendant in the head and he quickly defended himself, "I immediately told her that I was so very sorry and she said she was fine." Shout out to the kind but mildly concussed flight attendant.

Luisa and I hadn't been somewhere for a weekend without the kids in a very long time. It was strange to have the freedom to do whatever we wanted and the quiet to talk and finish our thoughts. When we got to the airport to pick them up, one of the TSA staff asked us about our gate passes and who we were picking up. We told her we were picking up our kids and she said, "Is that a happy thing or..." We laughed and said, "Yes. We will be happy to see them again." She laughed and said, "You never know. Sometimes you just don't want the vacation to end." I would gladly have had a few more days alone with Luisa but as I stood waiting for them to emerge from the jetway, I couldn't wait to see them and hug them.

As always, it's nice to go away but it's also good to come home.

In It Together

I got up at 4:30 this morning because the kids had a 7:10 flight to catch and I wanted plenty of time to make sure that they had everything they needed. I showered, reviewed my list and then woke them up at 5. They took turns in the bathroom without argument and packed the last of their things. We were all downstairs and ready to go at 5:20.

As we drove to the airport, I talked about early flights when they were little and how frantic I always felt and said, "Now things are so much easier. You don't need much help anymore."

We talked about the cars on the road and wondered where all the people were coming from and going to so early in the morning. As we passed by the soccer fields at Fort Snelling, Miguel said, "Wow! The soccer fields look so beautiful under the lights when it's this dark." I had to take his word for it because I hadn't looked and then they were gone. We pulled into the airport and I told them how much I loved airports and that I could spend a whole day in one without being bored. Miguel said, "Well, there is WiFi." But I explained that I like to watch people and try to imagine their stories. Zeca said that one time in an airport, she saw a boy traveling alone and all he had was a small backpack and she wondered where he was going and who would be waiting for him when he got there. I'd never known that she thought of these things like I do.

Once at the airport, the lines were crazy and getting checked in and through security was much more stressful than I had hoped. We stopped for Starbucks and the man ahead of us in line had a voucher he had to use so he paid for our stuff too--a small kindness means even more when you're in a rush. We got to the gate and the kids were the last two to board. Our goodbyes and hugs were too fast and then they were gone. The two of them in it together.