Saying goodbye.

All good things must come to an end, and after breakfast we parted ways. Being a blended family is always going to make things a bit more difficult in terms of allotting time. But I think we reached a decent balance between time with JJ and time with the grandmothers. It is why (at this time) we have the Holidays at home only rule. Since JJ lives three hours away, it is vital that his time with SS is our primary focus, and our time as a nuclear family. SS was able to enjoy family time, fun time, and we are glad we have the videos and pictures for her future reference. It was really generous of the grandmothers to drive that far to see her.

The guys stopped for lunch, since they missed breakfast. They slept in and we barely made check out time. I thought it was noon, but it was actually 11:00 a.m. That really ruined our plans of having some alone time while JJ and T had SS. At least we made it out just in time.

We also stopped to do some brief shopping and to introduce SS and T to the wonders of El Pollo Loco. As expected, SS loved their Spanish rice and we bought her a large side order to bring home for dinner. The four hour drive turned out to be as much as SS could handle. After she napped she was rather quiet, something that never happens when JJ is here. We became concerned (JJ was sitting next to her) when she would not respond to him. It also was probably also the result of such a long weekend, but we are going to keep the driving under the four hour range for now.

JJ and T had a three plus hour drive left, so they could not stay for long. SS was OK saying goodbye, but not truly comprehending that JJ was not returning later. It hit her about an hour later and she could not stop calling out for him. we were glad that we finally met T, and we enjoyed our time with him. He is a laid back, easy going, conscientious young man, and we are glad that JJ has a good friend in him. Maybe we can do it again next year.

We had a major thunderstorm shortly after the guys left. No worries, it was not along their path. We have not heard/seen thunder and lighting like that in a very long time. I immediately became concerned about SS, but P decided to end the panic stricken responses. He opened the blinds and sat with SS on his lap. P talked to SS in a soothing voice about thunder and lighting being beautiful and a part of Mother Nature. SS had her moments when she would turn around and bury her head on P's neck, but there was not screeching. Baby steps, baby steps.

Now we only need a week to get over our weekend.

Funny, that tutu is growing on me. No longer disgusted by it.

You'd think she'd be out of laughs by now.

Laughter abounds with SS.

JJ quickly picked up on our safe parenting practices.

Look at that tongue! She missed loving on JJ so much. It's great to see her so happy.

SS passed JJ's hat around.

A very tired SS.