Photographs and memories

I just looked through my August my photo file, and what a busy month for the family.  Marji and Dad took a trip back to Colorado and had a wonderful stay in Cripple Creek seeing old friends and getting his house ready for another winter. Amanda, Tom and the kids went backpacking at the ocean, then the Pt. Townsend birthday weekend, also our big trip to New Mexico.

You can't pack more into a month without dropping over from exhaustion.  Come to think of it?  I'm ready for a much quieter September and looking forward to the start of the Symphony.

We drove the girls north on Saturday morning and dropped them off again with Grandpa Jerry. Amanda picked them up in Burlington and after school shopping, they went home over the North Cascades Highway. A long day in the car, but they got home safely.

The traffic jams were epic. It took us over 4 hours to make an 80 mile round trip. You start to wonder why a person would ever leave West Seattle? It was a relief to get home. I never thought our urban village could seem quiet, but after the misery of the I-5 corridor and the jammed cities up north, it was an oasis of peace.

We sure enjoyed having the girls stay overnight and they were very good. Of course they're kids and I'm a neat freak, so things get messy and cluttered and noisy, but then they leave, and suddenly I miss them awfully. In a few short years they'll be teenagers, not interested in toys and picture books or fairy gardens. Each age brings new fun, but wish we could slow down the clock.  

They like to be constantly busy, and this gets tiring when you're not used to it. So each afternoon I told them it when it was their "free, quiet time" so I could get a few things done.  Maybe that sounded like a treat, because for once they didn't complain about being bored, and spent hours making fairy gardens in the flower beds.

They rarely fight over stuff which is nice, but everything shared must be scrupulously equal. So they are in a constant state of negotiation over toys and food. You better make sure that nectarine is cut exactly in half.

A typical exchange goes something like this:

Nova:  OK, Maya, I get the big fairy statue and you can have these two small ones.

Maya:  I don't want the small ones, I get the big one because I saw it first.

Nova:  No, it's actually mine because I was playing with it this morning.

Maya: Well, then I get to have it now and you can have the small ones.

Nova:  No, how about you get to have it tomorrow?

Maya:  OK, then I get all three tomorrow and you can have this blue stone instead.

Nova:  You can't have them tomorrow until I take my fairy garden down, OK?

Maya:  Then I'll give you this flower and the elf for the big fairy now.

Nova:  OK, but I need the fence and the bench too.

Maya:  OK. But I still get the other one tomorrow.

And so on and so on...
I'm taking them along next time I buy a car.

It's quite amusing, but then I don't have to listen to it all the time. This bickering drives Amanda bonkers, but hey Mom, it's better than fisticuffs. Sometimes Nova can out maneuver her little sister, but Maya has some tricks in her bag, too.

Anyway, time to tackle that pile of laundry and the Monday morning chores.