They're Back!

At last my little critters are home with us again! They had a great trip full of swimming pools and beaches and fireworks and golfing. McCall says that his favorite thing was Boogey-boarding with his Poppie in Santa Cruz. Landry loved playing his favorite sport with his dad and brother-- golf. They went to the driving range one day and he hit a ball 90 yards! It was almost 5 full weeks of major playtime for these boys. I am so glad that they are so loved by our various families but of course we missed them terribly and couldn't wait to see their little faces coming off the plane-by themselves! Eeek! Yes-their dad made the decision to send them alone on the plane, very much against my wishes, but they did okay and felt very grown up. It is a long flight-3 hours and 40 minutes but they were entertained by dvds and backpacks stuffed with art supplies. It is amazing how brave they can be when given the chance. I still don't love the idea considering all the many factors that could change a flight plan while in the air and I think I have heard rumors of changes to the laws for unaccompanied minors in the upcoming year so we'll see what will happen in the future. For all we know we could be moving back west (my secret wish and hope) at any point so maybe someday soon these flights won't be such a normal part of our routine. It is just great to have the boys home. We moved them into one bedroom while they were gone to make room for the nursery and it seems to have sparked some nice changes to their cooperative relationship-at least for now. Last night they decided to set up a tent in their room and have a movie night and "sleep over". In the end Landry opted for the comfort of his top bunk and I spent much of the night getting McCall to calm down enough to sleep. It has been pretty emotional for the boys to hear about Jackson when they got home and landry seemed to get out his tears on the first day but McCall's have kind of taken time to develop. Last night they watched "Beethoven" and it triggered some sad feelings for McCall. We talked a lot about what Jackson might be doing in "doggy heaven" and we decided that it made us feel better to imagine him chasing bunnies and ducks and swimming in a pool and going down a slide into the water. We also thought he probably would be eating hamburgers from a dinner table. That must be heaven for a dog! In the end we all felt a little better but we also agreed that it was okay for us to all feel sad for a while since we all miss Jackson. This is tough stuff! Mostly we are just happy to be home together again. Give your kids an extra squeeze today!