Take care of yourself first...

Here's a few more images from our trip.  What you won't see in these happy, idyllic photos is the aftermath of aggravation I am experiencing this week in trying to get my  "Oh-I'm-still-on-vacation" boys to obey.  I have hit my limit many times and gotten so frustrated!! 

But first, the pictures... The colorful one with the airplanes behind is a brilliant installation at gate 50 in the Calgary airport.  It's actually a huge wind-up toy and the boys and I had no end of turning the key to watch it spin.  What surprised me was how so few of the travelers stopped to notice or even look up.  Sigh.

The next is around the lovely picnic table at Daryl and Renee's in Walnut Grove.  Weston was most enthralled with the weapons.

Next is a club photo of "Toren", the secret club to which I was not invited at the Tow house.  They had their own fireplace/shrine and password and codes of conduct: NO ADULTS ALLOWED.

We really ran the boys hard in Chemainus and even got to see a splendid run-through of Oklahoma!, but Weston fell asleep as soon as he hit the pillow at the Matthews and slept hard long past Dave and I rising... which is extremely unusual.  Check out the bed head after a day of sun and play and theatre.

The final photo is of course, back home with Daddy.  I love that he got to share with Donovan in his home reading time while Weston carves with my kitchen knife!

The weather is fairly mild here.  Mostly warm, but some showers (thank God, for that, -for the farmers!)

So... now that I've blogged a bit, I'm not quite so cranky.  I still struggle with surrendering my desires to give to my family, but I'm learning to ask for a few minutes here and there when Dave is home so that I can refurbish my spirit.

A new principle dawned on me as I was watching the classic safety demonstration on the airplane for the second time in French.  In the case of an emergency, take care of yourself first, and then assist your child.  Whoa.  Of course.  A life principle for me in avoiding burn-out.  I need to take care of myself so I have enough oxygen to keep giving and enabling others.  It's actually safer that way.