BT 4.0: June 2014

We are two days into Big Trip 4.0. I wonder if this will be our last one? I've been doing that a lot lately...wondering. I used to suppress eye rolls when veteran parents would say things like, "savor these moments" but lately I've been watching them grow before my eyes and I wonder about their "lasts" more than I ever wondered about their "firsts". I see Mark throw Milo in the pool and I try so hard to freeze that moment. Will this be the last time he can lift our growing boy over his head and hurl him into his final childhood pool flip? As I napped with Odelia today I smelled her hair an uncomfortable amount. How much longer will she smell like this? Salty and sweet and sweaty and untouched by the world out there ready to fill that beautiful head of hair with unnatural colors and textures. We played a game with grandma tonight and I soaked up Milo's delight in a really long snake we built together throughout the game. His eyes were bright with joy and his excitement delighted everyone at the table. Five and seven are something special. I hear (from those pesky veteran parents) that you feel like that about every age but I just cannot imagine a more perfect time. I'll savor this summer, soak up their kid smells, their contagious laughter, their dirty faces and their curiosity. I'll study them. It's my last summer with five and seven and I intend to enjoy it.

First stop: South Dakota

Picnic 1 of many

Equipment tag: Milo was "it" and I taunted him (all the while worrying about twisting my ankle and falling off the said equipment). This was our second game of tag. Odelia chose "butterfly tag" where we all flapped our wings and followed rules that didn't serve the longevity of the game.