Annnnd, just like that, today is the day of Heading Home. For all the effort that went in on the front side (and oh, my – did that involve work and coordination), and then all the careful planning for our evening activities and getting around the burbs and some of KC-proper(ish) while we’ve been here, it’s now just about time to hit the road.

Currently Ben is still at meetings, and I’m spending the afternoon enjoying the A.C. (not to mention the amenities) of Target and Starbucks since I had to be out of the hotel before lunch. I mean, really – things could be much worse, eh? But since I am done with my slow perusing of Target and my lunch, I’m hunkered down at Starbucks until I get word from B that it’s time to come pick him up so we can start the five-hour journey back to Hastings.

There’s no way we’ll get there before the kids are in bed, which is a bummer, but I’m excited to see them (bright and early, as per usual) in the morning and see how big they are (don’t laugh; don’t you think the same even after just a day or two away from your kiddos?).  But mostly I want to hug and hold the bejeebies out of them because I miss that contact like crazy even though getting touched out happens to me all the time with them. Maternal Irony, I guess.

What’s wild, though, is that I get less than 12 hours with them and then I am hitting the road again for a special training in Lincoln. So while I can’t wait to snuggle up and hear all about their five sleeps without us, I still won’t really get to be with them until Monday. I am grateful for the timing of all these opportunities, that I can in fact go from one to the next, but at the same time – this is a lot for me to squeeze into one week!

As for the Road Diary that I posted as the micro blog on the MM page, well, I don’t know if I have any other revelations to add to that, except that this trip has been good for us. Ben has worked really hard during the days with his training for the new class he’ll be teaching this fall, and we did our best to fill our nights with activities and opportunities that we just don’t get at home (which I’m still doing here this afternoon with my two indulgences) from the Royals game and seeing an actual current movie in an actual movie theater (with reclining leather seats, tyvm) to shopping at IKEA and hitting up a prenatal yoga studio.

All of this means the days and nights have been pretty well FULL, but as whirlwind-y as it has been (and as fast as it has gone), there have been big benefits in terms of recharging and being able to have actual grownup conversations without interruptions, which just doesn’t happen at home. From here we jump back in headfirst with parenting and road tripping and finishing out summer camps and activities (pretty sure we don’t have a quiet weekend between now and the start of school), so for now, I’m just going to sip the rest of my iced coffee and say a little (loud) bit of thanks to have had this opportunity.