We've been taking it easy these days, and I kind of feel we deserve it. We're tired of waiting to leave, so I, at least, am pretending I'm on vacation and that makes a convenient excuse for the logical part of my brain wondering why I'm living out of suitcases. Also, at this point, everyone else is getting tired of saying goodbye to us. There's really only so much Hey-we'll-miss-you-ing you can do before people start wishing you would just leave the country already.
We had our last goodbye shindig Saturday night at Kathryn and Jeff's house; they hosted a phenomenal weenie roast in their new place, complete with Bavarian folk music and cheesy German techno. We ate sausage, drank beer and watched the rug rats run around the back yard until they were covered in sidewalk chalk and soaking wet and freezing from playing in the ice tubs for our beverages. That's the good stuff, man. The best part was that everyone present had already said goodbye to us about twelve times already or was coming home with us...so we've got that going for us.
We came home and had the girls leave their Easter bunnies out before bed...and I'm going to straight-up admit that I was LAZY with Easter this year. Remember how much effort I put into Saint Nicholas Day? Well, I appear to be fresh out of inspiration, because the girls were lucky they had baskets this year. In all fairness, I had expected to be in Vienna for Easter and didn't want to pack a boatload of stuff for it, but, honestly, my brain really just couldn't handle orchestrating anything else--we're lucky if I get lunch on the table in a timely manner these days. I did, however, manage to take pictures of Audrey and Bailey in all their finery on Easter Day, which is a first for me. High fives all around!
Otherwise, we've been enjoying time together in familiar surrounds. Since John is off work, the four of us have been going on long walks to see the geese at the river, the playground and, especially, the girls' favorite hill. I have no idea why the little grassy knoll at the end of our street is so enticing to small children, but it has been a favorite play area for the girls since they were old enough to run. They scamper about attacking dragons (i.e. evergreen trees) with their sword-sticks and meatballs (i.e. pine cones) and rub dandelions on their subsequent dragon bites to heal them. It's the stuff of childhood.
On our last particular visit, Bailey wormed her way around a sign that we usually only see the back-end of and we realized, after all these years of driving past it and playing near it, that it said: Welcome to Kennewick, Washington. It's where both our girls were born and the only place they have lived in their short lives...and we're leaving. It was kind of a perfect farewell. We're off on a brand new adventure that will open our children up to the concept of life outside one's hometown. Coming from a small town of my own, I can understand how important it is to feel the safety of having roots, but, also living with a wandering spirit, I know how much more important it is to discover on your own how big and beautiful and diverse this world is. I want my girls to know that they are not only a product of the small, safe microcosm they were born into, but also a citizen of God's great earth--and seeing how overwhelmingly amazing this world is only makes Him more amazing.
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