The Authors Journals
19 July 2016
We are… wait for it… on vacation. Dun. Dun. Dun. Amazing. Unbelievable. And for one moment, I am all alone, enjoying my solitude. It’s my one minute of peace. One that is sure to be short lived once Frank gets done exploring the little apartment that we are staying in for this trip. An apartment that is going to feel so much smaller once everyone is back inside of it, I have no doubt. Especially when you factor in the six kids that came with us, plus Frank, Colt and Alli, as well as myself and The Woodsman. All of us crammed together in a little three bedroom apartment. I imagine that…Frank says that the apartment is even smaller than the one on Two Weeks Notice. Apparently that one could be walked across in six seconds? At Franks count, this place is only a 5 second walk. I told him to shut up, it was a free place for us to stay while on our first vacation. He started to look like he was going to argue with that logic, so I gave him the ‘Mom’ look and he decided that maybe he should go investigate the great outdoors. At least that’s what he told me as he headed for the door, muttering about how he had better not see any bears out there as this place didn’t come with so much as a shotgun lamp for defense.
It’s so nice to have a moment of quiet to myself. The Woodsman took the youngest four out on the lake to go fishing. Also amazing. Colt took The Entertainer to go check out the playground and fire pit out back. The Ohana Princess crashed out from exhaustion from our trip earlier to the Lake Michigan beach, so she is passed out in one of the bedrooms. Alli decided to ‘nap’ with her, but I really just know that that is code for keeping an eye on her to make sure that she is doing ok. The last thing any of us want is having to spend the day driving back across the state to take her to be admitted into the hospital again. I think she’s just tired though. But it’s good to know that I am not the only one watching.
We had so much fun at the beach though. It’s been so long since we’ve had even a day away. I laughed at The Pinapple Scout as he complained about how cold the water was. The Little People found some new friends to play with while we were there. Alli, I think, is made of sterner stuff than the rest of them as she didn’t let that cold water even slow her down. She laughed at the waves as they crashed into her and allowed them to playfully pull her out a little ways. The Entertainer did go a little ways out into the water, but he didn’t last very long, lol. Colt was right there with him on that one too. They couldn’t have been out there more than five minutes. Frank really didn’t comment about the water temp. He just walked barefoot at the edge of the water and seemed to be looking for seashells? I decided not to ask. The Ohana Princess enjoyed the warm sand between her toes, from underneath her colorful umbrella. I’m sure she would have preferred to sit in the sun, but the chemo has made her skin far too sensitive to risk it.
Behind us all, grudgingly in shorts and combat boots, was The Woodsman, pacing back and forth through the sand, eagle eyes on the prowl, ready with a scowl for anyone who happened to so much as glance our way. You would have thought that someone was liable to come along and shoot us or something based on the energy he was giving off. It wasn’t even like there was a dune or anything there for someone to hide behind where we were at. I decided to ignore him and just enjoy the sunshine myself.
I’m truly amazed that I have managed to remain uninterrupted this long. I may as well enjoy it as long as I can. Let me tell you about the place that we are staying. It’s this little apartment at this place that offers little vacations to families who are going through some kind of cancer treatments. Each little apartment has a theme and we are in the Disney themed apartment. The Ohana Princess likes it but Colt is less than impressed. He says that he is not a fan of the oversized mouse and crew. Thankfully that is the only objection that I have heard so far. Outside the little apartment is a tiny lake where they have little boats that you can take out on the water and pretend to fish. On the far side of the lake is a tiny little beach that we may go check out tomorrow. Out to the side is the playground and fire pit and somewhere around here I guess there is some kind of little game room that I’m sure my kids will track down at some point.
I suppose I should probably get my body up and moving. Someone has to get something going for dinner. Goodness knows, nobody else is hear working on it. Huh, I wonder if that is why it’s been so quiet in here? No one wants to be the first one in because they might get conscripted into helping with dinner. That’s totally possible. Oh, look, here come a few victims for dinner conscription. Gotta go!
Image created by Mel Seeley in collaboration with Google Gemini
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