Always

Family vacation days are tough. There is always the dream of lovely and the reality of ugly and all the stuff that mostly falls in the middle.

Glorious swims.  Too much TV.  Ponies.

Breakfast for dinner.  Sharing out bites of the tenderest steak I've ever had.

Trips to the toy store "just to look around" that end in purchases (duh.)

Too much togetherness.

Waking with the sun.  Staying up way late.  Watching Jupiter rule the night sky.

Little sunburns.  Bumpy hayrides.  Sun warmed peaches heavy with juice running clear down your arm.  Mosquitoey itches.

7 am phone calls that are never good news.  Elderly parents going into the hospital. (Taking Daddy to the bus.)  Elderly parents coming out of the hospital.  (Picking Daddy up from the bus.)

Green snot.  Plans abandoned.

Beloved Aunts and Uncles.  An occasional found friend.

Lots of ice cream.  Too much candy.

Cannonballs.  Hummingbirds.

Brothers fighting.  Brothers playing.  Brothers screaming.  Brothers laughing.

Every night's whispered promise "I will always be your mom, I will always love you, we will always be family."

It is guaranteed that we will remember these days with more glory than we experienced them, but that's OK, it's just family myths in the making.