Saturday, Sunday

And, our vacation is now over.  Back to the real world.

Yesterday was a catch-up day.  The girls woke up from camping at just about the same time as normal, so they were a little cranky but we still managed to have a nice lazy day at home together.  We considered going downtown to an Italian-American festival, but we just plain didn't get around to it. The girls had an early bedtime, which set us up for a really nice day today.  It wasn't a vacation, really, but I did spend almost 2 hours cleaning the kitchen and dining room, and the girls' room is finally in order.  I did two loads of laundry, too!

Last night, Travis had a couple of Guinesses and some whiskey, and came to bed much after I did.  I don't know what time it was, but right at that same time there was a thunderstorm, so Emily came in and said she was afraid of thunder.  Travis went with her and laid down in his bed, which I vaguely remember but didn't recall immediately when I woke up.  I guess I was quite the bed hog, because when Trav woke up at 5AM in Emily's bed, and no idea why he was there, he tried to come back to our bed but I was diagonal across the bed, and clutching his pillow.  Poor guy finished the night on the couch!  It's been a long time since I've had a morning where we're trying to piece together just what happened, and how we ended up where we did. :)

Tonight, we finished off our vacation by going down to the Indianola hot air balloon festival.  We didn't go in, just watched from a nearby park.  It was incredible - I'll try to get the pictures posted tonight, or soon, at least.  Emily and Audrey were so excited, and saw the first balloons rising above the trees, coming right towards us.  But, they were floating kind of low, and we could hear the flames, which absolutely terrified Emily.  Audrey said she was scared too, but I know she only said so because Emily was afraid.  She was enjoying the thrill of being scared. :)  Funny to see my girls react so differently.  I think Clara was watching them, too, because she was laying on her back on the ground, looking up at the sky. 

On the way home, we came up through downtown Des Moines, over Emily's favorite bridge.  I got a couple really cute pictures of that, too.  What a crazy kid she is.  And a great way to wrap up our week together.

Tomorrow, it's back to normal, and I think we'll all be glad to get back into the regular routine.  But, 3 and a half weeks from now, it's a new normal, when I go to work.  I don't mind the thought of going to work, but I really will miss my girls.  I'm getting quite fond of Clara, as her personality emerges.  She cooed at me for a good 10 minutes tonight, after she nursed her evening meal.  What a sweetheart she is. :)