Sweet dreams....or a nightmare?

I haven't decided which yet! My children, the loves of my heart and pains in my neck all rolled into one, are both, yes...BOTH gone to camp this week. It's my son's gazillionth trip and he packed like the seasoned pro he is: at the last minute, nothing labelled because he knows what he's taking, and with that teenage attitude of "eh, whatever" that he adopts when he's confident of what he's doing. It is my daughter's first trip, one she has been counting down the days to for, oh, about 4 years now! She has been a bug up my keister for the last week, driving me crazy about packing: what to pack, how to pack, did we get this, should she take that, what about snacks, what about extra pants, what about time to change between classes... O. M. G. I totally understand where she's coming from because we all know I love a list... but yowza. She was packed a full 2 days prior to the trip. My son was still pulling stuff out yesterday. At this point the busses are halfway there and I'm praying he remembered to pack pjs! :/

I love that they are able to go, and that we are able to afford to send them. God Himself knows the BeachBum household has come close to living in a cardboard box on the beach (and not by choice - I'd rather build a tiki hut, thank you!) more than a few times the last couple years.

I'm excited that they are going, time to make new friends and enjoy being away from home a bit. Time to spread their wings a little and become those bright young adults they are on their way to becoming.

However, it also reminds me that in just 4 wink-of-an-eye years, my oldest will be heading off to college. And that I only have about 8 more years with my little one. Sure, to those of you without kids that seems like a lifetime I'm sure, but omigosh, I can't believe my oldest is almost 15. He should be in diapers and terrified of the scene in 101 Dalmations where the puppies are kidnapped still! He would scream and cry every time the Dearly's would put Pongo and Perdita on their leashes for that fateful evening walk. Our VHS tape (yes I'm showing my age) probably won't even run with the puppy abduction scene anymore, we fast-forwarded through it so many times!

My house is so quiet. I was going to clean, but maybe I'll leave it messy to remind me of my kiddos until they come back home again!