We’ve returned yet again from another trip. Sorry for the lack of posts- I tend to err towards the side of caution when announcing when we will be out of town- not that much of anyone is reading here but I figure better safe than sorry.

We drove to Texas for our summer vacation. Dh did the entire drive and it went beautifully for 12 hours. Thankfully he’s good at night time driving (which I am NOT for some reason the lines on the road start jumping and i get really nervous that I’m going to miss a curve and run off the road). Both boys did great on the road and definitely had a blast with their cousins in Dallas.

I also got to visit with some of my linesisters for my 10 year sorority anniversary. It seems like just yesterday we were in college pledging and now the majority of us are married with little ones and busy lives. I’ve really been blessed in my sorority experience and can honestly say I can count on my linesisters for just about any and everything. They have truely been a support system throughout some of the best and worst times in my life.

I’ll have to update with more trip details in the upcoming week (unfortunately not many pictures though because I accidently forgot my battery charger). I found this cool blog that makes me wonder if our family will possibly live life on the road for awhile sometime in the future. We’ve definitely got a major travel bug- and I could see us spending an extended time in Africa or Europe.

I’m convinced- my water bottles must have some sort of kid alluring genie inside. I reguarly purchase them from my favorite store and walk around with my water in my favorite little carrying case. Most of the children in our playgroups have to be practically force fed water usually (they’ll take a few sips and then refuse more) but for some reason my water bottle beckons them to beg and plead for a sip. EbonyBaby has recently joined the tribe of water bottle admirers- there really must be a genie in there or maybe the green bottles are so overwhelmingly enchanting no one can resist.

My grandfather was visiting Georgia for a family reunion so we made our first trip to Augusta, GA to visit him. EbonyBaby smiled and cood for everyone he met and was so sweet to his Great Grandfather on their very first meeting. We should get to see my grandmother soon as well (in St. Louis).

Its been very important to me that my own children get as much exposure to all of our family as possible. After EbonyBoy was born we were heading to St. Louis so that my last remaining great grandmother could meet him and hopefully do a 5 generation picture. Sadly she passed away just 2 short weeks before our trip.

I’m definitely projecting some of my own childhood wishes of spending more time with my own family while growing up. Being military and stationed in Texas while the majority of my family was spread all over the country- primarily in St. Louis and Connecticut- made me want a closer relationship with my grandparents.

Grandpa had a wonderful time with the boys and I’m just greatful that we’ve had an opportunity to share their lives with him.

We went for a wonderful excursion to visit the Children’s Museum in Chattanooga - I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love that place its got to be the most interactive amazing place I’ve seen yet and has 3 levels of exhibits, art crafts, and fun- anyways EbonyBoy had a blast.

I didn’t really do it as a traditional birthday party but instead just a field trip with a few of our good friends. Afterwards I just feel incredibly blessed to realize that I actually have friends. Good, supportive friends who not only love me but also love my freespirited sometimes wild (and loud) little boy.

While driving up to the museum J (she’s pregnant with babe #2 and is one of the sweetest natural Mamas I know- I need to write more on her but I was pretty amazed when I moved all the way to Atlanta hoping to connect with more mothers of color and my best bud is a white hippie chick that for all intent and purposes is a southern version of everyone in Seattle)- we have quite a few parallels in our lives and share viewpoints on quite a few things as well. We were discussing how moving as children affected us. I’d never really thought about it before but I can’t say I ever really feared or hated being the new kid. Actually the worst year of my life was my sophmore year of highschool when simultaneously ALL of my closest friends Dads were transferred to different bases. To go from having a nice nucleus of 5 or 6 folks that you share a ton in common with to having no one lead to a very lonely sort of life.

Now I worry about not having friends and not keeping friends. When a former friend backed out of being in my wedding party because I was not spending enough time with her or paying her enough attention (sheesh I was only planning a wedding for 200 people in San Antonio, TX while living in Seattle and only getting to make 1 trip to arrange it all so forgive my slightly busy schedule) it crushed me. You would have though she was my first boyfriend breaking up with me (which never happened since I was forever the one who broke off pretty much ever relationship I ever had) I was so hurt I just cried for days.

Yet again I’m amazed by how much our childhoods can affect how we interact with others as adults. It’s painful to think about but pretty much every best friend I had growing up either moved away or dumped me. My first best friend was Kathy Dill (putting her name here in case she ever finds this through a search engine Hi Kathy!) and we were both crushed when her parents divorced and she had to move to Michigan. Next was Jenni who pretty much dumped me since I wasn’t cool enough while we were entering high school. Finally there was Liz- we had so much in common it was scary. Patterns in our lives were so close together we even were born a few hours apart barely missing sharing a birthday. She chose to be shady concerning some money I lent her and just disappeared from my life altogether.

Thankfully I have had some guy best friends (dh being the main one) who were nothing but true and faithful till the end. But it still doesn’t stop me from worrying that one day my friends will just decide they don’t want to be around me anymore. I try to be as appreciative as possible but I’m sure they have no idea of just how deeply sensitive I am and how I’m affected by friendships.

Having the friends I’ve made here truely makes me cherish this feeling of just knowing I am cared about and appreciated. I know my family loves and cares for me (heck they have no choice) but the friends I’ve made here have adopted me as family and it just makes every day a bit sweeter having people to share these experiences with.

Three years already- Happy Birthday EbonyBoy!

Note the spiffy new Spiderman shirt and Birthday crown (thanks for the idea Tifi)