Five to Two

Last week, S and I took off for a few days of vacation WITHOUT KIDS in an effort to celebrate the tenth anniversary of our marriage.

All was successful.  The kids browned themselves in the sun despite SPF 50 and splashed in the lake with  cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.  A daily call to grandma proved the girls were happy and content. 

We too were happy and content on our own albeit a bit out of sorts.  It was just the two of us.  We didn’t quite no what to do with the decrease in persons at first. 

Of course, we adjusted quickly.  Our vacation was quiet and lazy.  We drove as far away from the city as possible with gas being over $4 a gallon.  My shoulders relaxed as the hills outside the car window started to gently roll.  Every where I looked I saw green.

S and I stayed up late watching movies in our pastel room at a B&B.  We ate fried green tomatoes one night and ran through a gentle rain storm another evening.  I bought rock candy for the kids and homemade jelly for the households partnering to take care of our children.  We stuffed ourselves with the breakfast portion of our B&B every morning and canoed down the town’s murky river one morning.

We took naps almost every afternoon and toured the home of the 18th President of the United States while I tried to get my Ukrainian husband to smile for a picture.

This was the best he could do:

It was nice to be on our own to do what we pleased for a few days.  There were no telephone calls, no dishes, not a laptop in sight.  Nobody cried if they didn’t get their way and there wasn’t a need to look at the kiddie menu at restaurants.

S and I started to remember one another.  We were pleased to realize we still enjoy each other’s company. 

At the end of the week we drove to Michigan to get our kids, slowly preparing ourselves to expand once again from two to five. 

Honestly, I was dreading it.

And then I saw the girls.  They were excited about our reunion.  Polly shrieked with laughter.  Elaina held me tightly and longer than usual.  Zoya recounted the tales of a few unfortunate mishaps in the week; she showed me where her neck was sore and the scrap on her toe.  

My heart quickened in their presence.

And I decided that five is a good number.