Yes, I cried.

Finally, almost 7 days after Peter left, when I least expected it, I had my first breakdown.  The funny part?  It wasn't the kids, the house, the cars or anything else.  It was reading through all of the Memorial Day updates on Facebook and thinking about the day in general.

Now, I know you are thinking, but, uh, Pete's okay and he's not military, so…this is true.  However, it is still a national holiday, one that generally brings people together (whether to gorge themselves on grilled meat or mourn the loss of a loved one) and we are nearly 7,000 miles apart.  He's over there busily serving his country, I'm here and it hit me all at once.  Then?

Then it was gone.  It was the true definition of a good cry.  I wept, composed myself and realized I was still fine.  I was crying more for him than because he was gone and knew the best way to prevent further tears was to carry on with our day as planned….

We swam at the pool (my first swim since the last surgery), grilled and finished up dinner with s'mores.  The kids helped with everything, from prepping the table and cleaning the grill to helping with the clean-up after dinner (to include Kelsey doing the dishes and garbage while I put Nick to bed).  It was an amazingly relaxing evening and the burgers were 'so good' that Kelsey said it might be one of the best dinners yet.  And my reward?  Thank you hugs from both of them as dinner was "so tasty" (as good as Pete's burgers…whew!).  So, our first holiday without Pete (and hopefully one of the few) a success as far as overall family member happiness.

In other news, I am still insanely jealous of C.  Today was a day of horsebackriding at Laxness. She apparently (according to her FB update), had a fabulous time and she learned (or re-learned) that galloping is far easier on one's bum than trotting.  The weather is still utterly gorgeous  and I'm thinking Berta is going to have to drag her onto that plane on Saturday…but I can't say I blame C on that one!  And if that smile on her face doesn't say this trip was the perfect idea…I don't know what does.