#lovebeingauntshell

For the past several weeks, my family has been visiting from Hawaii. Kevin and Jamie moved with Madeline and 6-week old Charlotte to Oahu in January of 2013. It was a heartbreaking goodbye for me - I’d gotten very used to having them live just 100 miles away in San Diego. I loved getting to make memories on weekends and live the ordinary moments together too. I’ve been to see them in Hawaii three times now and was there in November to meet their most recent addition - Jason. Being auntshell is one of my very favorite roles. I absolutely adore my family and having them live in island paradise has been a challenge to say the least, so having them home has been a tremendous joy. 

Our first visit was a Saturday afternoon and evening in Fallbrook. Kev was off at the World Superbike Races, so it was Jamie and the kids. It poured down rain, so we grabbed lunch at a little cafe and then just caught up. It was a lovely little inside visit and truthfully just being together is delightful - I was just so grateful for that time.

The next visit started right here in Orange County. Kevin flew out of LAX on a Saturday afternoon, so their family caught a Friday night show at Medieval Times and then came to meet me at Tarzan - we’re a show-seeing kinda family! Kevin and Madeline caught the second act of Tarzan with me and then spent the night at my house. In the morning, we had a delightful breakfast at Kimmie’s Coffee Cup and then M and I whisked Kevin to the airport for his flight back to Hawaii. With just me and Madeline in the car it felt like OLD TIMES. I haven’t had a date with JUST M since we had Starbucks on base my last day in Hawaii. We came back to my house and watched Sleeping Beauty and then decided to do some back to school shopping so she would have some fun new things to wear when she got back to the Island. My grandma always took me back to school shopping, so that’s been a fun tradition to carry on with my M-girl. After shopping it up, we grabbed a late lunch at Chickfila and hit the road for Carlsbad where we met Jamie and the kids for dinner. We listened to Adventures in Odyssey the whole way - because that is a MUST for any road trip, short or long! We did a bit of shopping all together at the outlets and then had dinner at Miguel’s before giving more hugs and saying see you next week! 

This weekend we saw each other in San Diego at the Bush Family Reunion on Saturday and then drove up to Orange County pretty late on Saturday evening. On Sunday, we had a FULL day of FUN. Jamie had a family wedding on her mom’s side, so after a bit of time together in the morning including the princess breakfast of pink spinkled donuts and chocolate milk and a trip to the park in my complex, the girls and I headed to church and spent the rest of the day together just the three of us. After Sunday School, we went to McDonalds for lunch and time at the PlayPlace, then put our suits on and hit the pool for a while. Around 4:00pm we headed home for baths and then cuddled up on the couch for some Mickey Mouse rest time. Charlotte actually fell asleep for a good bit and when she woke up she was “hunny” so we decided a picnic dinner was next up on the list. We gathered blankets and all the other goods and headed outside for more memory making. We played games like Mother May I and Red Light Green Light as the sun set alerting us that it was almost time to head back inside. At 8:00pm, I took the girls inside and we had drumsticks before washing up, getting into our jammies, and then M and C cuddled in my  bed as Mickey Mouse wooed the sleepy ladies off to dreamland. It was a really great day. Yesterday was full of laughter, and moments where auntshell got to say YES to two crazy but adorable littles who own my heart. We laughed a ton, took pictures, made memories that will hold me over until the next time I can hold them in my arms and give them a ridiculous quantity of kisses. 

We officially said goodbye this morning not knowing exactly when we’ll be together next. It is always hard. There are always tears. My heart aches a little deeper upon each departure. It is so good to be family - what a gift to love so much that saying goodbye hurts so much. It seems like saying goodbye should get easier each time, but somehow it still guts me. I guess that’s just proof that the love is real and deep. I really do #lovebeingauntshell.