I'll stay shotgun until the day we die

This leg of our vacation has is camped at my sister's house. That part isn't unusual-- they have more than enough room for us to stay, so when we come out we stay with them. What is different is they aren't here. This year they celebrated their 20th anniversary, so we made a plan for us to watch their boys while they went to Hawaii together. What we didn't know (and couldn't have known when we scheduled this trip last fall) was that our youngest sister would be here, too.

What this means is we 3 different approaches to daily living, however, which has taken some getting used to. Caroline has been here for a month or so, so she's mastered the boys routines. This is also her Stateside home, whereas we're in vacation mode. Among the 8 of us, I think we've pulled off what needs to happen as well as what we'd all like to do.

  

What has been an added bonus about Caroline being here with us is not everyone needs to go on every outing. On Friday, the oldest and youngest nephews came with us and explored Virginia City, an old mining town. Yesterday, all 3 nephews were tired and wanted a day chillaxin' at home, so they stayed behind while we went to Gardiner and then toured through the Paradise Valley area. As much as I would have loved to have my nephews along, it was also good to have a day with just the 4 of us. My babies are definitely not babies anymore, and I treasure every moment I have with the two of them-- I only have to look at how often my siblings and I are all together to know the future is wide open. We started taking a family vacation on the '5' anniversaries-- 5 year, 10, etc.-- figuring the kids are a part of our marriage. I hope we are able to continue having both of them (and their eventual families) meet up with us for future trips, but for now, I'm thrilled with any chance to have the 4 of us in a car, exploring together.

What I am reminded of when we travel is how in sync Dave and I are. We balance each other out nicely, and often it only takes a single conversation with him to make me feel better about the world. He and I went off to the store the other night, and then he saw the impending sunset and took me to a place where I could capture it. We got about 90 minutes together, and my outlook on life was so much... calmer, I guess, as a result. He is enjoying being my camera tech, and I am always happiest when he is driving me somewhere. In many ways I feel like I lucked into this life-- how did I get such wonderful kids and supportive husband? Some of it is work-- we have not taken anything for granted-- but it also has a level of good fortune to it. Regardless of how it came , I'll accept the gift and be very thankful for it.