Big Bear

B couldn't take her giant bear to California with her (she would've had to buy a seat for it I think!) so she left it for little man to remember her by. I plan to print a photo and hang it by the bear in his room so he'll have a reminder of his friend B.

B's last day with t

This was last month already (can't believe she's been gone almost a full month) but the photos from the park on their last full day together make me happy. It looks warm and he's so happy. He loves his B and misses her so...as we all do.

We miss her already

Things are just weird without B. I know it will take some getting used to and it will be an adjustment for all but we really miss seeing her smiling face and her presence in our home. Little t has wandered into her room three times now and just stands in the middle of the room and looks around bewildered as the room has basically been deserted. The closet and desk and table all look abandoned. He's even walked into her closet and stood there for a bit. He's confused and it's hard to explain to such a young one what is going on. At first we said that she went bye bye but then I realized that I didn't want to associate that word with someone not coming back for a long time. So we've told him that she had to move away and is living with another family but we'll see her again when she visits us or we visit her. Any way you slice it, it's sad.

One Year

It was one year ago that B arrived in the United States. She first went through au pair training outside of New York for several days but then flew to meet us just 5 days later. As it's her official year date of being in the U.S. it's her official last day with us to work. She is lucky and got a light day as little t went to his new school for transition time and was gone for 2 1/2 hours. I dropped him off with B just a short time ago and by now he'll be down for a three hour nap. I can't believe how fast the time has flown. We were so lucky to be able to welcome B into our home and our lives. Tomorrow at this time I'll be bringing her to the airport but it will not be goodbye, just farewell for now. We will see her again, time and place to be determined, but without a doubt we will see her again. Best of luck to B in her extension year in California - we love and will miss her. I have a few more blog entries in mind but overall they will mostly be coming to an end as we won't be having any adventures with our au pair anymore anytime soon. :-( BUT, when she visits or when we visit I will update everyone at those times.

Duluth and Gooseberry Falls

Fun times for B in northern Minnesota...

Let the tears begin...

Today B left in the morning with her friend B who brought her to Duluth for the day to see Lake Superior and do some hiking at Gooseberry Falls. I was so happy she was going up there as it was one trip I wanted her to make and we just never got around to it. Time always gets away from us! She came to give J a hug and tell him goodbye as she won't be seeing him again before she leaves on Wednesday and she told him goodbye and to be good and it made me so sad that tears just immediately sprung to my eyes - I couldn't hold them in. I took little t in the kitchen as I didn't want to cry in front of her, J and her friend but they all saw anyway. I'm going to be a wreck on Wednesday when I bring her to the airport.

Bowling with B

Saturday was a day of fun for B. We went bowling in the morning. T promised $5 to whoever could beat him and even though he's really no better than any of us, he really was better than all of us and he didn't have to pay out any money for the two games with played. Afterward we went out for lunch and then had to get home to put little man down for a nap.

It's great now that he's on these almost 3 hour afternoon naps because I can get a lot more done than I used to be able to. We all pitched in and cleaned up the house (except J as his face was buried in the computer playing video games like normal). Around dinner time our family started to arrive for a going away party for B. My parents, brother R and his girlfriend S and my SIL and BIL and nephews all came over. My MIL and FIL are in Arizona for a bit so they had to miss and my other brother and his family are on a road trip out to Washington DC so they had to miss as well. We had lots of food and many drinks throughout the night. We played some cards (Black Jack and Texas Hold 'Em Poker) and just spent the evening talking and laughing with each other. It was a really great night and I'm so happy we were able to pull something together quickly for B (we weren't sure if anyone could make it as it seemed everyone had something going on initially when I asked) to send her off in style.