Ten days flew by ridiculously fast. Did you miss my posts?
I took ten days off from posting on this blog, multi-hyphenated-me.com, so I could spend every possible moment with my 18-year-old daughter visiting us in Spokane for the first time since we moved here in June.
Ten days have passed and she is back in Southern California for work and to prepare for school to start soon. Sigh. I miss my girl. She’s doing what she needs to do. We’re doing what we need to do. Both are good, all is well.
Maybe not well, but ok in a stabbed in the heart, broken down way. As I wipe the tears from my eyes, allow me to share with you the highlight reel of our time together.
With Captain Vince at the helm, we rented a boat and spent a day on the Spokane River and Lake Coeur D’Alene. Don’t tell Red Beard he’s turning into White Beard.
Jessica was all smiles and showing her mad skills tubing on the Spokane River, heading toward Lake Coeur D’Alene. She is an old pro at tubing, having racked up many tubing miles over the years on the Colorado River.
The boys had their share of fun tubing too while Jess and I lounged and soaked up some rays in the bow of the boat.
Niko attempted waterskiing with some trainer skis but couldn’t get out of the water. Andre had the same results with wakeboarding.
Jessica tried wakeboarding too…
…but she couldn’t find her balance.
As a family we enjoyed great times together, seeing movies – Wolverine and Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters; paddle boarding on the Spokane River; many delicious meals; a trip to Silverwood theme park and Boulder Beach water park and ran as Team Extinct Rainbows in Spokane’s Color Run.
Jessica and I walked/ran around Manito Park several mornings, ending up at Rockwood Bakery to indulge in pastries to counteract our exercise efforts. We had plenty of girl time getting mani-pedi’s and shopping at some of downtown Spokane’s unique shops. We had lunch and a nice visit with Jessica’s high school cross country friend who recently transferred to Washington State University. WSU has a great campus! Jess got a Cougars shirt, maybe a little cougar will rub off on her when she transfers next year. San Diego CA or Pullman WA? The deck is stacked against me, but I can hope.
It was not all fun and games. Jess is affectionately called Cinderella for a reason. She gave her dog Dale a bath, helped with the laundry and getting dinner on the table. She earned her keep the most when Vince and I had to call a family meeting to wrangle the boys to enforce their schedule and chores that had gone wildly astray. We laid down the law and Jess sided with us, the parental units, explaining to the boys that she knows what it’s like to be in their shoes and we’re helping them grow up. YES!!! Thank you Jessica!
Rihanna’s song, Stay, came on the radio when I drove Jessica to the airport this weekend. “I want you to stay”, I do, I want her to stay, but that’s selfish. What I really want (I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want ~ forgive me, Jess and I sing Disney’s Chicken Little version whenever the other says “What do you want?”)…what I really want is for Jessica to grow. I want her, and her brothers, to be independent, to grow strong, to live life. I can’t always be there and they need to learn how to figure out and take charge of their life.
Go my child, fly away, live life. Though I can’t always be right there with you, you know I am always here for you.
multi-hyphenated-me 