Gosh it's hard....

The hardest part of this wonderful roving life we have chosen is spending such little time with those we love the most. C's parents have come and gone, and it all went by in a flash. It was SO great to see them and SO hard to say goodbye so quickly.

Of course, as always holds true with our clan, we had to have a little drama to prepare for their visit. Apparently C and I are getting a little more insightful and adept at this parenting thing. We are such quick learners, it only took us a few years.... On Saturday afternoon we were in agreement that L was getting a little snotty (high class word for congested). We decided we better take a family trip to the PX to get a new humidifier as the last in a line of about 10 had sprung a leak all over M's carpet. Finally, we have carpet again so you know we had to start spilling things. Anyway, Murphy's Law was of course in full effect now as evidenced by the fact that one of our kids was getting sick less than 12 hours before Granny and Gramps were due to arrive. He (Mr. Murphy) continued to keep his grip when the oh so huge (not ) PX here had two choices of humidifiers. Choice #1 was 14.98 and would likely have lasted us three uses, not to mention it needed an additional $30 of filters and cleaning chemicals... Choice #2 was $59 and could orbit in space, maybe a bit more than we needed for a 9x6 room? SO, off we head to WalMart, C's favorite spot in the universe....I am certain that by now you all get the sarcasm in my tone. Well, a nice middle of the road $30 later, we head home fully confident that with humidity, Vics salve, and Dimetapp we are totally prepared for a rough night of coughing and fussing. All parents of toddlers know that sniffles and snot mean sleeplessness for everyone in the house. No meds or steam or propped up pillows will stop the inevitable. It just makes us feel like we are doing something. A few short hours later we are all tucked in and quiet.

Then the clock read 9:30 and the fun began. In an instant it sounded as if a very large harbor seal (I can identify these like an expert now, because you know, I'm a local...) had occupied my tiny girl's room. The bark she was letting out shook her poor little body like a seizure. She couldn't stop crying, which of course made the coughing a hundred times worse. Her breathing was so bad that her heart was pounding a mile a minute. Of course, all our confidence hours earlier that we had a grip on this thing flew out the window in a cloud of mist (this new machine makes her room look like a rock concert). So, off L and I head to the emergency room. I was confident she was having some sort of asthma attack, 'cause you know I am such a medical expert. By 1:00am we were headed home after a breathing treatment and some steroids to treat ...

CROUP?

Who knew?

Apparently, anyone but us... The good news is that it is viral, will go away, and may not ever return, and M is probably too old to catch it. The bad news is it is viral, can be caught again, and odds are M, because she is my child, will buck the age limit for this thing and catch it anyway.

SO, probably needless to say, we were starting off G and G's visit with a real bang. Happily, they don't care what shape we are in or if we ever leave the house. Our first night's effort to show off all of Monterey's wonderful cuisine? Papa Murphy's pizza, of course. We know how to show folks a good time and paint the town red. Luckily, the daylight hours for L were fine and dandy and we were able to hit a few of the tourist's hot spots in their all too short visit. We showed them how the other less than 1% live on 17 Mile Drive. They also got several good views of our seals and otters. The beach was a bit chilly, but it was sunny in Carmel and it's never too cold for M and L to do some quick digging in the sand.

My in laws are SO great, they even kept M and L on Monday night so C and I could go to dinner by ourselves... Funny side story, we chose Sapporo because we both love Japanese Hibachi places. The only other folks at our grill table you ask? A family of four with 2 girls the exact same ages as ours... They apologized and we laughed. Who really cares when it's someone else's kids? Incidentally, these kids, I think were droids, polite, too cute, quiet, ate with chopsticks, ate zucchini and broccoli and shrimp... Need I go on? C asked the older one where she lived? Her answer "Pebble Beach, CA." There really are no low rent districts in that specific area.... SO, I am choosing to believe that there are a team of nannies and etiquette coaches who prepped these two for this meal out. It couldn't possibly be that I have misstepped somewhere in my parenting. I thought all kindergartners and toddlers thrived on chicken nuggets and cheerios, oh yes, and don't forget celery because L cannot function without it and we all know how many nutrients it adds to the diet.

In a nutshell, LOL (when have I ever been brief) we had a wonderful visit and L is recovering nicely. I always have a couple of days of melancholy after our family leaves. It usually takes me about 48 hours to remember that we LOVE our life of moving around and meeting other great people who feel the same way. This life we chose constantly requires that we take a leap of faith to build a new support system in each new hometown. The fact that we have such a wonderful bond with our "real" families is what makes it possible for us to go out and enjoy making new friendships all over the globe.

Don't they look great?