Back to the present

Good morning! Wow, it feels like I have been away from my diary forever. Well, we are back in Fort Worth. We made our trek back in the Suburban on Saturday. I am just going to come out and flat out say it. My children are the world's best travelers. It is roughly a 13 or 14 hour drive between Huntsville, AL and Fort Worth, TX. Trust me, when you are driving with 1 wife, 3 kids, and 2 dogs that estimate can grow exponentially. Potty stops alone must account for 6 hours. Then, factor in stops at Cracker Barrel and Walmart, a few meals, and dog walks and you can see that another huge chunk of time can be added on to your journey. I am pretty sure that without all of that the drive can be completed in a little over 15 minutes.

All joking aside, my kiddos were truly phenomenal. Everyone was well behaved and we all had a great time. I know that may sound strange but it was indeed true. I honestly have no clue what we have done right as parents to make trips work out so well but I must admit that I feel a sense of pride. We really did have a good time. There was nothing really memorable. It was not exceptional. However, I could not leave the car without feeling good. I have a great family.

I woke up this morning and made a trip to the bathroom. I know, that is probably far more information that you probably needed. However, as I was leaving I looked down on the top of the white counter in the bathroom to find two perfectly brown Ainsley sized foot prints on the top. They are grubby and grimy. It is hard to believe that my sweet little demure(not!) princess could have such dirty feet. On top of that it should be interesting to note that there is nothing above the counter. There are no cabinets. The light switch is on the near wall but that is completely in reach by her from the floor. In short, there is no rational reason for these two brown little footprints to be on our bathroom counter - none at all.

They are two simply little, dirty, and yet somehow incredibly adorable foot prints. I wish I could frame them.

I will ask her this morning her reasoning for being up there but knowing her I am quite sure she will deny it completely. She will most certainly blame the foot prints on the dogs, a heffalump or, worse yet, me. None the less, this will be one of those things that will carry me through the day with a little smile on my face.

So, now I am ready for my shot back to reality. The kiddos will head back to school and Lynley and I back to the grindstone. I have enjoyed the rest and relaxation experienced over the last week but it is time to get back to work.

There is a mountain of purpose to climb.