Away from home

I dropped him off at camp this morning. The real kind of camp, where he has to take a sleeping bag and pillow, and toothbrush which he will have to remind himself to use (along with the shower, let's hope he reminds himself to use the shower, too).

I didn't do very many sleep away camps when I was little. Once. I remember going to horse back riding camp when I was in elementary school. It might have been a Girl Scout camp. I remember helping in the mess hall, and mucking out stalls. I remember that of all the girls for some reason I just couldn't get the hand of the trot, or maybe it was the canter. I remember the frustration. And I remember the fun, but I also remember being very, very homesick at night. That feeling lasted for me long into high school, when spending a week at band camp was a delightfully magic time for me every summer, but with nights that left me feeling bereft of my own bed and family. I even cried sometimes when I was away for simple overnights at friends' houses.

So you'll forgive me if I was a little worried for Calvin. Logically, in my forethinking brain, I have no real concern. Calvin is more easy going than I think I was as a kid, and I think he'll take these first two nights away from home and family (ever!) like a champ. In fact, if anything he's likely to be sorry when the week is up (which is a feeling I also remember very well, especially at the close of band week every summer), but that didn't stop me from worried just a teeny tiny bit somewhere in the back of my uncontrollable reptilian brain. So we all talked about it a bit the day before I dropped him off. We told him that when I was young I suffered terribly from homesickness, but that his dad not, and I told him some of the coping mechanisms I had used when I was young to get through a long week.

Then in the car on the way to drop off, eary on Wednesday morning, Calvin told me that he was really, really going to miss me, and he asked me to take care of his animals for him. I asked him if he was starting to get worried, but he said that no, he just thought that would be a sweet thing to say so that I wouldn't feel sad. He was using my own coping mechanisms on me.

Wisdom is sometimes lost on the old.

An island wedding family vacation weekend

We are just back from a few sunkissed days of rest and relaxation, and fantastic celebration. My brother—my little brother, baby brother, favorite brother—got hitched over the weekend. But this was no stuffy church wedding with endless receiving line and in-and-out reception. No, my adventurous brother and his adventurous bride planned a weekend on the island of St. Thomas with their closest friends and family, so not only did we get to welcome a great new member to our family, but we got to do it while relaxing on the beach or at the poolside, spending a relaxing weekend enjoying the company of family and the feel of sand between our toes, champagne in hand.

Day 1, Thursday

The travel for this trip was excruciating. We got up at 3am to catch an early flight and watched the sunrise from the air. But, after a stopover in Atlanta, we touched down in the Caribbean early enough to enjoy a late lunch and a dip in the pool. We were all dragging a bit by dinner, but it was worth it.

out our front door

rumtini for Jon, shirley temple for Calvin

poolside bar?

Sherlock Holmes at dinner

Day 2, Friday

We woke up earlier than intended, but coffee on our front beachview porch while Calvin played in the sand made up for it. We spent the morning on the beach, Calvin and Jon playing in the sand, and the afternoon on a cruise to go snorkeling with wild sea turtles. And a ray. And some fish (watch out for the spiny sea urchins!) before coming back for the wedding rehearsal, more pool time, and dinner. One of the greatest things about an all-inclusive resort was having all this and more right at our doorstep, or at least just a short walk through the sand away.

We'll call him Roy

wild sea turtle!

can you spot the spiny urchin? (he's hiding in the right corner of the reef)

Day 3, Saturday is Wedding day!

Beautiful, except that I cried trying to finish my reading. We love those two so much. Even an iguana came out to watch. Then a really, really fabulous sunset cruise, then a delicious and entertaining dinner reception in the sand. We danced up a storm until we had to take our rather exhausted little dancer back to bed.

proud ring bearer

reading love stories from our family tree

this isn't Roy

singing while dancing

singing while not dancing

Day 4, Sunday

The last full day, not to be wasted. From beach, to lunch, to pool, to beach, to one final fabulous dinner, the whole family together.

wild sea turtles!

Day 5, Monday

We got to wake one last time to coffee on our beachview porch, spend one last morning on the beach with friends and family, and enjoy one last poolside lunch (and one last petting of the cats that made our stay that much more homey) before packing up and heading to the airport. Of course, that meant another set of travel times. We left the island just before dinner, and, after a another brief layover in Atlanta, which got longer and longer with delays, we watched the sunset in the air—a perfect bookend to the trip—and touched down back at home after midnight.

Birthday

Someone in the house is getting older, and I'm not telling who, but it's someone who's name does not start with C.

We celebrated by trying out the Nul Tasting Room, kin to our favorite downtown restaurant: Jolly Pumpkin. It's beer, of course, and Nul is the tasting room for three great Michigan craft breweries. They also happen to be within walking distance from our house. Not that we walked on this occasion, mind you. It is chilly out there, after all.

We loved it, by the way.

The training wheels are off!

Eleven wonderful years