Family Time

What a fabulous treat it was to have four of our five kiddos under the same roof for two nights in a row! We arranged for Spencer and Victoria to fly down on Wednesday for a few days, and I was grateful that they were able to arrange their schedules for the visit. All  the kids are working hard this summer with jobs and internships and mission trips and various other commitments, and we appreciate the schedule shuffling that they did so they could spend time with Kelly and me.

Spencer and Tori landed Wednesday afternoon, reporting that they had experienced some turbulence from building thunderstorms. This thrilled Tori and made Spencer a bit queasy. Our first stop was the Sawmill for a late lunch of delicious sandwiches and tots.  Tori has been down a few times, and has seen some of the sites, but it was Spencer’s first time coming down to visit. We gave him a tour of Route 66 and the Plaza on the way to lunch. After lunch, we drove home and caught up  while we waited for Annie and Josey to get off work. When they got home, Kelly made a scrumptious chicken fajita supper. Joined by Annie’s boyfriend Jared, we ate and then played games.

Thursday morning started off with a drive up to the top of the crest and a hike out to Stone House. After a visit to the Triangle Market, we came home for a little lunch and some games before heading downtown for a visit to the nuclear museum. A quick stop at Buffet’s Candies (the original site) for our free samples and a purchase of the classic box of chocolates was followed by a trip down the singing road. Kelly made us a wonderful pork sweet curry for supper. That was followed by more games with the gang. Some of the favorites from the week were Splendor, Wingspan, Wyrmspan, Cribbage, Hand and Foot, and Nertz.

On Friday morning, we headed toward Santa Fe on the Turquoise Trail. Annie joined us, despite her juggling the trip with getting a major project submitted for a competition. We stopped first at Origami in the Garden, and saw some wonderful metal sculptures that mirrored their much smaller paper versions. We grabbed some coffee and played cribbage in the park while Annie finalized the details for her project with her professor over Zoom. A very overjoyed Annie rejoined us after the project was officially turned in for judging. I would explain what the project was about, but it was something about data collected from her engineering lab, and it was well beyond my comprehension. The graphs were pretty, though.

Then, Annie led us to the Loretto Chapel so we could see the famous (and possibly miraculous) staircase. We also toured St. Francis’ Basilica and took in a few more interesting sites in downtown Santa Fe. We grabbed some authentic New Mexican food from a food stand and ate it in the plaza. Spencer treated us to limeades, a big treat in the hot afternoon.  Our last stop in Santa Fe was the Christmas Store, such a fun little place!

We stopped at Madrid on the way home for some Italian sodas and a few pictures at the photo park. I cooked macaroni and cheese (an old favorite of my kiddos) that I doctored up with some meatballs and New Mexican green chiles, which was paired with a salad that Kelly made. Supper was once again followed by games. All too soon, Annie and Josiah had to head over to their mother’s house for the evening, so we got one final night with my kiddos (popcorn and a movie).

Annie left today for her two-week trip to Europe, and Spencer and Tori flew out mid-morning after a few rounds of Splendor. Saying goodbye to the kids is agonizing for this homeschool mama, even when I know we will see them again soon. For twenty-one years, I was with my children nearly all the time. It was wonderful to have so many memories of time with them. It was also wonderful to see so many of their milestones. Even with this wealth of time to treasure, I grieve the hours that I have missed with them since I moved away two years ago. Kelly says that being sad is ok, and that being apart from them is a natural part of their growing up experience. My mind says that he is right, but my heart is so full of gratitude and sorrow that it is hard to hear my mind. We had a great, great visit that I will be savoring for days or maybe weeks, and many more memories to add to the treasury. Parenting adult children is really something. Just when they grow up to be amazing adults, you don’t get to see them as much. Parting is such sweet sorrow, and I am counting down the days until I get to see them again.