Oh baby the places we'll go!

The end of an era and the promise of adventure is upon us! We've left the volatile edge of infancy behind us, emerging on the exciting side of manageability.
For months Mike and I have been saying to each other, "it's going to get a lot easier... soon". And it has been progressively more manageable... but we were both feeling the need to prove that Ryan could sit still for longer than half of a Happy Meal. For months we've denied ourselves real restaurants and events for the very real fear that it would all go to hell just as we were starting to enjoy ourselves. Sitting still and eating quietly are simple not engaging activities for our relentlessly busy child.
It would go something like this. I'd ask Mike, "should we all try to go out to dinner tonight?" and he'd say "are you sure you want to do that?" and I'd go to bat for my son, vouching-- saying earnestly, "Honey, I really think he'll surprise us... he's grown up a lot lately". And, my husband, being supportive and loving and knowing that the house is feeling smaller and smaller with each passing moment and that if I didn't get out and do something with the general population my minor frustrations would blossom into a full-on break-down would kindly agree. (Disclaimer to those of you who may not know for sure... I am not a fragile person. Nor am I dramatic. I'm simply a human being that can sometimes start to show signs of wear after doing the same thing over and over again, with sometimes very little reward or sense of productivity. I stay at home with my kids. It's the best. But also sometimes demeaning and obnoxiously monotonous.) Then we'd arrive at a restaurant with toys, crayons, juice, and hope, sit down, order.... then take turns keeping Ryan from climbing onto the table, under the table, over the booth backs for the duration of our meal... which would often just come home with us in a box so we could slink out of there before it went from bad to worse. Then I'd apologize to Mike. (He never says, "I told you so".)
Therefore, when I suggested a drive to Olympia (9 hours! One way!) to visit my wonderful sister-in-law and her equally wonderful family it took a couple rounds of "are you sure we want to do that?" and a few dramatic statements regarding my fear for my mental health if we didn't do something different, exciting, and ambitious so I could feel alive and rebooted-- for my super supportive husband to jump on board. Sure, there were a few comments acknowledging the doom that could be awaiting us as we pulled from our subdivision, already submersed in drama, demands and tons TONS of crap that we "needed" to bring.




Cliff Note summary: we made it home in 4 pieces (which is ideal, of course) and were, by the grace of God, rebooted, refreshed, and ready for a summer of more outings, less crap to bog us down, and more dinners out... but then again, let's not get ahead of ourselves.