Snapshots of a Trip

I've spent the past couple of days re-editing and cropping our Florida vacation photos, because I thought that the girls might like to try their little hands at scrapbooking--such a novelty for my kids, to have actual photos in their hands!

At the time, that Florida vacation was equal parts joyful and stressful. I knew at the time that these were precious  moments that I had the privilege to experience with my girls, but not having Matt there for that last week made everything SO much harder, and coming right on the heels of his absence (not to mention the stress of) for jury duty for that murder trial, and frankly, I was pretty resentful, as well.

But look what happy memories we made! Look at the adventures we had, the new things we tried, the joyful moments that we had together:

The stress? Heck, I don't even remember what was so hard--I'd hope in the car for another cross-country road trip with the girls tomorrow.

Being mad at Matt for not being with us? Now I just feel sad that he wasn't there for our happy times, that he won't be in these precious memories that my girls carry.

I've made master plans, and started the savings account to match them, so that we should be heading back to Florida for another happy vacation in almost exactly one year. This time Matt will be with us for the whole trip, and I don't care what he says.

And the photos? They're going to contain quite a few more mouse ears, if you know what I mean.