This is a weird thing for me, as I was the one graduating 15 years ago. Has it really been that long?! Hardly seems possible. The event caused me to do a little bit of thinking about what I have accomplished in the last 15 years. In some ways, it certainly isn’t what I thought I SHOULD accomplish in that time, but in others it is so much more. I read once (no, I have no idea where) about a person whose philosophy guided them not to regret the things they did or didn’t do in their life because it made them the person they are today. I really like that train of thought. See, I wanted to be a doctor when I started school. That, apparently, isn’t going to happen. I also had the chance to try to go to the Air Force Academy. Didn’t do that, either. How different my life would be should I have chosen either of those two tracks. However, if I had done that, I would not have met my amazing husband, and we wouldn’t have adopted our two even more amazing kids. Not to mention missing out on all of the fun we have had along the way. So, to me, it seems that wishing you could change the past is a silly thing. You never know the consequences and it just can’t be done anyway. Why waste the time on what might have been? Instead, I would like to focus on what can be done in the future. I want to do more with myself in the next 15 years. I want to be a better mom every day, and I want to contribute more to the world around me. I am working to go back to school to improve my mind, and I try to be the person my husband sees in me. And, one of the things I learned along the way, if I only really worry about doing my best one day at a time, it will be okay.
Enough philosophical stuff and to what we did! To start things off, my step-mom, Elaine, flew down here to help me drive with the kids. Brian used all of his vacation time until next May for a trip to Africa earlier this year. Elaine was great. I have done most of my road trips with Brian, and we are a great team, so I was apprehensive to do this trip with anyone else. It went so much better than expected! We drove up I-15 until about Butte where we take I-90 for the rest of the trip. We even saw snow as we crossed the border from Idaho into Montana at Monida Pass. Snow. In June. The drive took us about 12 hours, and the kids did pretty darn good for being cooped up so long.
We drove on Wednesday. Friday afternoon we went and played with my friend Lesa from high school, her son, her sister, her sister’s kids, and her cousin. We had a blast. If N. Idaho was just a LITTLE (okay, A LOT) more diverse, I would be more compelled to move up there. I had fun, the kids had fun. I took more pictures than should be allowed. Gotta love digital cameras!
On Monday, my sister, Christina, treated the family to a day at the local amusement park, Silverwood. We rode an old steam train, the ferris wheel, water boats, and the Tilt-a-Whirl. Brendan got to ride several rides all by himself – and even “drove” a car with mommy as a passenger! We also had lunch at one of the restaurants and enjoyed some hot drinks before heading home. Brendan was so tired on the way home that he fell asleep with a pretzel hanging out of his mouth.
Wednesday we headed home, with Elaine as my co-pilot again. The weather was nicer on the drive home, so we stopped a little more. Again, I was really impressed with how well the kids actually did on such a long trip. Elaine hung out with us for a day before flying home on Friday. It was a great trip. I always love getting to visit with my family and spending time in the beautiful area where they live.
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