Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Welcome Home, Kids!







The long-awaited moment finally came this past Sunday. Sarah and Stephen returned home from eight weeks away as camp counselors in the mountains of central Pennsylvania.

No one was more eager for their homecoming than I, their mom. (Maybe dad and little bro', too, but they kept their enthusiasm under wraps. being the cool Joes they are.)

In preparation, I asked Joel to make a sign, but I accidentally deleted the shot of him doing the work with markers and paper. I also accidentally deleted the picture of Paul doing the dad thing of noticing the Jeep's condition and saying, "Well, looks like we now have three vehicles needing new tires."

We swapped tight hugs with our precious offspring, and then Stephen presented Joel with a gift: a fart pen. It describes a multitude of natural gases that boys find uproariously funny.



Sarah then noticed the big bush of black-eyed Susans--Maryland's state flower--and wondered if it was new this year. No, it had just grown great-guns. Our state flower looks like a miniature version of the sunflower--the Kansas state flower--and I feel a constant connection to glorious memories of my beloved prairie days.
Anyway ,the driveway, front porch, and the golden flowers provided memorable backdrops for the occasion.

The kids freshened up from their long trek and we all went out to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant to celebrate their homecoming. It was Stephen's birthday, so we tacked on a helping of fried ice cream for dessert, but since Ben wasn't here, we decided to postpone celebrating Steve's birthday until this coming weekend. He's hankering for Chinese after a steady diet of No Carb Left Behind .

I feel newly completed now. All my birdies in the nest. (If I was on Twitter, I'd tweet about it.)

2 comments:

Danielle said...

That's quite the sign! Very cute! I'm sure you're glad to have them home!

Laurie said...

Welcoming fun!
Family blessings!
I love all the pics!
Hey! I didn't know the Black-eyed Susan was Maryland's state flower! Yes, a mini version of the sunflower and so happy and hardy!