Fifteen Years, etc.

Today is our 15th wedding anniversary, and we will celebrate it tomorrow by heading out for four days in Key West. My mom and dad are coming up to stay with the kids, a gift for which we are very grateful. When we planned this trip we were a little nervous that it would never actually happen, because right after we made our reservations, the hurricanes started hitting one after another. Oh, we would've gone somewhere, even if we spent the weekend sitting in the Miami airport drinking Starbucks and watching drug busts, because the child free weekends are just too rare. I think the last time Ron and I went out to dinner together without the children was November of 2007. I'm hoping to get lots of good photos, enjoy a number of tropical drinks, and indulge in a lot of key lime pie.

Several people have asked us how Thomas is doing as a boarding student. It is very strange to say that I have only spoken to my son twice in two weeks, but he seems to be doing fine. For the first few days after we dropped him off I was feeling a bit guilty for not missing him more. Then I woke up on Thursday with a serious longing to hug him and I kept thinking what if he just needs a hug from his mom? I guess it just took a few days for absence to make my heart grow fonder. He seems to be doing well... he says that he's getting along well with his roommate, and his behavior has been good enough that he has been able to go on the "OC" (outstanding citizen) off-campus trip both weeks that he's been there. Annamarie and I went to his soccer games on Monday and Tuesday. Monday we took Ruby with us at Thomas' request, and there was great joy at their reunion. I think Ruby was glad to know that we had not done away with him or sent him to the pound... she really misses him. (Don't you like how he wears his socks pulled up over his knees? Looks like he's wearing green tights.)



Thomas was obviously glad to see me and Annamarie. On Tuesday when the game was over, I hugged him and told him that he needed to go get on the bus with his teammates. He hugged me back hard and said, "I don't want to go." Although my heart was squeezing, I laughed and said, "Sure you do." Then he remembered that the team was going to McDonald's on the way back to school and he ran off happily to get on the bus. It seems clear that he is a little homesick, but also clear that he is doing well, and maybe doing a little growing up. I love this photo that I took of him on the soccer field, but all of a sudden he looks like a preteen instead of a little boy. He is coming home this weekend to see Grammy and Papa.



I also got a couple of good photos of Annamarie while we were at the soccer field. She was really hamming it up.





And the most amazing thing is that I actually scrapped some of those photos last night. (I changed A's shirt from orange to pink in PhotoShop because I wanted to use this Basic Grey Euphoria paper.)





I hope y'all have a great weekend, and there might even be blogging from the road --- who knows?