Home again

We've arrived back in Cleveland to enjoy the 90 degree temperatures and humidity that this fair city of ours has to offer. Thankfully the house is a bit of a sanctuary of (comparative) cool and calm. Thankfully we cleaned before we left. Best. Decision. Ever. We have decided to only unpack items as we need them so as to keep the chaos of travel contained in the van and not sullying our home. Not just yet, at any rate.

It feels like we have been gone much longer than two weeks. We've all been a bit out of sorts since our return, a lot of wandering around and looking at random things, some manic hyperactivity on the part of the kids, followed by the very wilted little boy watching Miffy in his chair right now. Corydon seems to have transitioned back the best, seeming utterly content to be sacked out on her couch again. I would expect her to miss the lake terribly-- but with how tired this spaniel has been the past few days, I wonder if it isn't a relief to her, that she is not compelled to swim and play with the neighbor dogs. Jack and Ivy, too, seem happy to be back and I hope that Jack in particular does not go into cousin-and-Farley's withdrawl tomorrow. At least not too badly.

It was a wonderful trip, to answer your question. We have just shy of 200 pictures in our Farley's 2011 album. And those are the "keepers!" I have my work cut out for to summarize our two weeks in a photo book. For now, a few things I want to remember about our stay...

Jack embracing "Farley's Freedom," feeling so very comfortable at the point, riding his bike so fast, around the circle, to the castle. Heading off to the playground with his cousins. Playing quietly in the yard, floating in an innertube out to the raft, climbing on his own into the boat. Jack asking for more time with his Lulu and telling us all about his cousins. Asking questions about how car engines work and electricity and boats and and and... He wants to learn about everything and talk about it all and I wish I had a tape recorder going for all the things he says, the way he says them, his little voice and inflections and earnestness and the surprising vocabulary he has soaked up. He has grown up, tangibly, in the space of these two weeks. I truly forget he is still only a 3 year old...

Ivy trying to put shirts on her head-- enthusiastically wrapping them around the back of her neck and walking around with her proud face on. Learning how to wave at each passing car and at each passing boat. Carefully moving gravel from one place to another, or moving Corydon's dog food a kibble at a time, to the mortar-and-pestle doorstop. Walking, nigh-running, over every type of terrain. Loving the slide, ready to climb herself right up to the top and walk herself right down. "Friendly and fearless," she was described at the Chapel family reunion. That's her to a T and she has come into her own with that fearlessness on this trip. It's going to be a great trait for her, it really will, but it may be the death of me first...

While Ive continues to be a motor-driven little girl, charging around the world, she is beginning to say a few recognizable words. In addition to "Hi" and "daddy" and "Jackie" she is saying "dog" (or deegoo or owie or a "panting" sound, any of those can refer to a dog, reminiscent of the way Eskimos have many words for snow...) and cat. She quacks for a duck and makes a pretty cute monkey sound. She signs, sometimes, for eat, more, all done and help, though her preferred way to tell us what she wants is to point at it and make a "mmmm, mmmm" sound.

And today, she added "Ah-meee" to her vocabulary. Its a whole new world of love now that the girlie calls me by name...

Off to download and sort and upload and, eventually, post the latest round of pictures. Our internet access was spotty the last few days at the lake so I've gotten behind. Though there is something to be said for being unable to spend my evening hours on the internet. I was forced to sit by the lake and read a fluffy novel instead...