Dear Bo & Kate, Your first vacation...

Before I returned to work, I wanted to get away and do something fun.  Daddy couldn't come so I recruited Mimi.

We left for Albuquerque on Tuesday after Bo got out of school.  The car ride was uneventful, even if Baby Sister doesn't like her car seat.  Bo kept us informed of every "big truck" he saw on the road and asked, "What's that sound?" a million times.  He wore the Little Einsteins DVDs out as well.

When we got the hotel, we were all done.  We had a poopy diaper in the floor of the car, snacks and toys and movies strewn about, but we were there!  Mimi stayed with you two in the room while I unpacked the car.  It was a comedy, as we were parked on an incline, and I had to load the cart and clean out the car one handed.

We got some supper at the hotel, got you two bathed, and finally got everyone down for the night.  You slept so well, Kate!  You woke up only once at 3:00am.

We got to the zoo when it opened, and it was beautiful weather to be out.  We saw the zoo, rode the zoo train, then rode the train from the zoo to the Aquarium.  Bo loved the trains!  We heard a lot of "choo, choo!!".  The monkeys and hippos were favorites, too.  The look on Bo's face was one of pure joy on the train.  I filed it away in my memory bank and will recall it many times in the future for sure.

{Hippos!}

 {We couldn't have done it without Mimi!}

 {Checking out the elephants}

 

 {Baby Sister was such a good girl}

{Trains=happiness}

 {You loved the Aquarium}

 {How Baby Sister spent the day}

You both fell asleep when we got you in the car so we ate fast food on the way back to the hotel.  We rested that afternoon then went to a few shops before dinner.

Oh, dinner...you were a disaster!  I walked around with Kate to keep her happy until our food arrived.  Then when the food arrived, Bo threw a fit so I took him to the restroom to "talk".  By the time I returned, it was almost time for Kate to eat so we got our dinner boxed up and headed back to the hotel.  Ha!  We finally enjoyed dinner when you two were bathed and in bed.  Kate slept great again...until 4am!

We hit my favorite grocery store the next morning before heading back.  You both slept a lot on the way home!

You were both so good.  It was a great first vacation!  Thanks for joining us, Mimi!

Dear Kate, It's my responsibility to tell you about your Mimi and Pop...

We just spent a week at the farm.  We spent the weekend at the ranch with your Mimi and Pop and the Coles, and then me, you and your brother went back to the farm for a week.  We stayed in a couple of days.  We shopped till we dropped a couple of days.

And now we're home, and I feel that empty feeling I get when I leave my family's house, or they leave mine.  And I feel compelled to tell you about how much we are loved.  Because I look at my parents, and I look at you, and I wonder, will they know each other for long?  Will Kate know how much she was loved and adored by her Mimi and Pop?

I kept looking at my dad with you and thinking...

• What if right before her 8th birthday, she finds out that Pop went to heaven?  And what if what she remembers most is that his favorite color is red, and what he looks like in a hat, and how his eyes squint when he smiles, and that his hair is thick and coarse, and that he loves to watch Old Yeller, Swiss Family Robinson, and the Alamo?  What if you say goodbye to your Pop too soon like I said good bye to my Pop-Pop too soon?

If God forbid that happens, who will tell you the rest?  I want you to know...

• That Mimi and Pop made sure they were there when you were born.  They would not miss it.  Showing up at important things and showing up "just because" is something they do.
• That Mimi got up in the middle of the night with you because she loved bonding with you and because she loved your momma and wanted her to get rest.  
• That Pop took the first shift when he could because he loved bonding with you and because he loved your Mimi and your momma and wanted us to get rest.
• That Mimi hated to hear you cry and would walk and clomp and bounce on the bed and sleep with you on her chest...whatever it took to get you comforted and comfortable.
• That Pop did his fair share of walking and bouncing and rocking...he rocked and he rocked and he rocked.  And when we suggested he could put you down, he'd say, "What if I don't want to?"
• That Mimi always sang to you.  A lot of times they were made up songs.
• That Mimi was not the most gentle person in the world and you would fuss when she was rough, and she'd say, "Sorry, Kate.  Mimi's rough."
• That Mimi kept saying (and still does), "she's so pretty."
• That Mimi worked hard to assure me about you and always said, "She's doing so good."
• That Pop called you "the caboose".
• That you were adored.  Just adored by them (as are all their grandchildren).

I've learned that not everyone has parents and grandparents like this.  But you are a lucky girl, you do.  And I just want you to know how they feel about you so that you never ever wonder.