we're back!

sometimes you feel recharged after a vacation (or so i have been told), and other times you feel like discharging yourself from all there is to do when you get home.  it is nice to be home but we all have vacation hangovers- the kids are in entitled and spoiled mode (might be the fault of certain relatives); the parents are in tired mode (might be the fault of certain relatives).  but we did it.  we made it across the border to canada and back into the usa thanks to our magic documents.  we even ran a marathon while we were there.  vancouver was really beautiful, but it felt like a foreign country. or at least a very big city.  there were very high heels and very big purses.  i had flip flops and a backpack.  i couldn't compete with the style standards but i don't think my toes would have fit in any other shoes except flip-flops anyway after running 26 miles.  and somehow a purse doesn't seem appropriate for maps, water bottle, extra kid clothes, another water bottle, snacks, another water bottle, shovels, buckets, and one more water bottle.  there were parks, mountains, an ocean, river, island, beaches, and lots of great weather.

we are home and back to running in four different directions.  school, day care, work and the home office.  we stopped at the grocery store on the way home from school as we do pretty much every day of the week.  merritt was in crazy chaos mode, stimson was in loud mode, so merritt went deeper into crazy chaos mode and stimson got even louder.  i contemplated going back on vacation (alone).  it is really hard to get merritt to go any appropriate direction lately.  she is really into rocks and between our house and school there are millions of rocks.  i think she picked up every one of them today.  it was an exhausting and challenging afternoon just getting from school back to home.  i had to make sure the teachers could see how i was a patient mom, i had to let merritt look at every single rock, i had to answer all of stimson's questions, i had to have dinner ready to eat when we walked in the door because i had a work meeting scheduled that got cancelled approximately one minute before it was supposed to happen.  urg.  but i am so glad to be home wearing my flip-flops and toting my backpack.  i am so glad i got to make dinner in my own house, i got to pick up my kids and answer questions and look at rocks and sleep in my own bed.  the kids are both sleeping now and the crazy loud chaos earlier today is just a happy memory.