I love my kids. I need to make that very clear but it’s ok that I also love freedom from them. This weekend a coworker and friend of mine got married in deer isle Maine. It’s basically in the middle of nowhere but it IS near the site of our mini moon so we jumped at the chance to get in the car drive 5 hours (with no one fighting in the backseat) and head to bar harbor. Truth be told the weather has us all in a great mood so 5 hours driving anywhere would be good. I LOVE fall. I love chunky sweaters and warm tea and apple picking and boots. Who wouldn’t love Fall. It’s not even a question. The people that don’t love fall are not my people. I adore literally adore fall baseball and kids soccer. You know the important stuff. The Red Sox are still winning closing in on the magic number dropping it to 2. Emma’s “back to school night” was a rousing success she’s obviously a genius from what I can tell by her sketches and letter writing. She’s also the only kid that puts hearts on EVERYTHING she writes and so what if she spells her last name Bhnagoo. Happens to me all the time. The craziness continues. Anyway, being back in Bar Harbor has me reflecting. The last time we were here I was newly married (literally less than 24 hours). So much has happened with us specifically in 7 years:
1. Moved to our current house that we putting an addition on because the neighborhood is just too perfect to leave. 

2. Had two awesome girls. 

3. Sent one off to kindergarten and one to preschool

4. Raj changed jobs

5. I ran my first ( but not last) Boston marathon 

6. Won a World Series (which added a third cool piece of jewelry to our collection)

7. Marked my 19th season with the sox

8. Raj played a lot more golf and a lot less hockey in those years

9. We are still married and look the same (sort of) maybe give or take a couple pounds 

10. We’ve done a fair amount of traveling within the US. 

11. We’ve grown together as a family. 
The last one is obvious but it’s the most important. No one tells you or talks about how hard this all is. We live our lives these days looking at social media thinking “wow they look perfect” and of course “they” do because who would post the bad pictures or bad things that happen. No one posts the chaos and if they do it’s a one and done. Now don’t get me wrong I’m just as guilty as the next and I’m not saying to post the worst of life because who really wants to see the bad anyway? My point here is sometimes I myself, have to remember nothing is perfect and chaos is more normal than all smiles but I will take it all because good, bad, ugly, pretty are all a part of it and it can go by too quickly and be gone in a second – reflecting more and making memories are what it’s all about and growing as a family has been a lot of fun these days! Funny how being away for a couple days makes you miss so much!