This past week has been one of moments where I have been reminded how much I love my tribe. We picked up the children from school before noon on Wednesday and all headed to Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos. Douglas met us there. The room was so nice, we had a suite to accommodate all 7 of us. Having Douglas there just added to the magic.
The children played hard in the waterpark. I had planned for this trip for quite a while, including getting matching pajamas for the children. They were such good sports going out to the main lobby for pictures. As we stood there between the little performance and the bedtime story in front of the fireplace real snowflakes started falling from the ceiling. The next day Kayla (Douglas' girlfriend) came to join us. I had fun watching the kids and taking pictures. As I looked though these fun pictures my heart was just bursting!
On Sunday Douglas and Kayla came right away in the morning so that we could celebrate Christmas with both of them. The children opened gifts from them. I think it is safe to say they loved them! Timber got to open his gift and some really great pictures happened again!
Douglas and Kayla had driven back to PA from SC where they had visited Kayla's grandpa, they were pretty tired and snoozed a bit off and on throughout the day.
We all went to a Christmas service at the church Kayla's family attends. This is also the church Douglas has gone to since he moved out, so it was nice to visit there.
And so these children of mine keep marching on, never realizing that I look at them with such a combination of joy, pride, and bittersweet pain. I hang on to every moment, knowing how quickly they change and grow and knowing that the sweet moments of this year will be outgrown by next year.
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