Countdown to Road Trip 7: No Grandchildren for 5 months

We are in the final stages of preparing to leave.  Closing up the house is always sad--moving flower baskets, locking our valuables in our safe deposit box, packing the truck and camper, getting ready to winterize our home, etc.

The hardest part of this time of year is knowing how long it will be before we can see our precious grandchildren again.  We had such fun with them this year.  With Soren and Sebastian we went to Disneyworld, we had them out to the house here for a day, and then went camping with them at Sweetwater Park in Georgia.

With Ian and Adam we got to see Ian's plays, got to have him out to the house for a few days, saw Adam playing baseball, and generally got to see them a lot over the summer.  We went camping with them and then went to Mt. Baker again with them. 

And the important milestone for Ian was, of course, his Bar Mitzvah.  It was a major event in his life, and a major event in all of our lives.  The whole family was here, including my sister Kathy who came from Colorado.

We got to see our granddaughters a lot as well.  They were out to the house frequently, working on projects with Vicky.  They entered several of those projects into the county fair and won all sorts of awards and medals.  They were justifiably proud. 

All of them are growing up so fast.  We realize that our time with little people is rapidly coming to a close.  Too soon all will be adolescents, and while we will still enjoy a special relationship with them, it won't be of the read-them-a-book-while-they-are-sitting-on-your-lap type of relationship.  Sob.

And now it will be five months before we see any of them again, except Ian.  We have something awesome planned for him for his Bar Mitzvah gift---he will fly to Los Vegas where we will pick him up and have a week of dispersed camping with him.  We'll show him how his weird grandparents live for five months of the year.   We hope to be able to have a week like this in the future with all of the grandchildren.

Time flies.  I believe I'm the first person to have ever noticed that.  Especially when you are having fun.  I'm also the first person to have ever noticed that.