"Hard to leave" possibly more due to the fact that we'd have to go through a 6 hour car ride with 2 kids, if I'm to be completely honest with myself.
Saturday morning we drove to Santa Cruz to celebrate Trieu getting his PhD. It was great to see the entire Mai family - a treat usually reserved for Thanksgiving. Thai is talking more so he and Kael are playing and interacting more. Maureen is looking great and getting big (I stopped myself from telling her that she's going to get a lot bigger as she gets closer to her due date). I think she actually broke 100 lbs at 30 weeks pregnant. Trieu... well, I never know what to say to Trieu - except congratulations and a refusal to call him "Doctor Mai." Even though we've been family for years now, I see him as an odd-ball intellectual who I'm not entirely sure when he's lying to me or telling me the truth. It's just easier to treat everything he tells me as a lie to avoid the inevitable teasing later. Anyway, I wish we had more than 3 hours to spend with the Mai crew but we had to move on to San Jose before it got too late.
The next stop in our travels (remember this is still Saturday, folks) was to San Jose to my parents' house. Kael's cousins Jarod, Amelie and Collin were there so they started chasing each other around the house screaming. The noise level definitely went up several decibels once we arrived. The last time we were there Malia was not yet walking so my family got a kick out of watching her toddle about. I waited for her to freak out as everyone was hovering around her, giving her about 4 inches of personal space, touching her. She was like a circus monkey they'd never seen before yet had to touch. I resisted the urge to tell them "she's not a dog - stop petting her head!" But I had nothing to worry about - she did great. She was just as curious about them as they were about her.
They were probably just wondering "what happened to all her hair?!"
This was the first time I had the opportunity to see how different the families are (Truong's and mine) and how my kids interact with each side. With the Mai side Kael talked a lot: he had deep, meaningful conversations with Maureen and Ingrid. He talked to them about... well, everything apparently. His silkworms, his teacher, golfing with dad, what he wants to be when he grows up, what he does in class, about his little sister. With the Pham side, he screamed a lot: between playing tag with Jarod, Amelie and Collin and being chased by Jackie, Sean, Daryl, Mitch and Kyle, it's a wonder he didn't have nightmares every night from being overstimulated. Heck, I considered it a small miracle he even managed to get any sleep Saturday and Sunday night. His Mai uncles chase and play with him too but it's different from the absolute fear-but-still-fun kind of chasing and screaming that the Pham side instills in him. Must be from all the "kid experience" we have on our side (8 cousins plus my 2).
It is trips like this that make me realize how important family is. Every visit, every blood-curdling scream, every hug and kiss, every story told is another memory my kids will have with them forever. It's what will make them a stronger person, knowing that no matter what happens, they will always have these 2 great huge, loud, crazy, fear producing, fun-filled families, just 6 hours away.
Six long hours away.
Six long, boring hours. Of driving time. In a car. Away. With 2 little kids. In a car.
Oh well. There's still no place like home. No matter how far away it is.
Malia happily splashing away in the pool.
I think it's time for swim lessons for this water baby.
Do you see Amelie reaching to pet Malia on the head? I told you: circus monkey.
Priscilla (my sister) and Chi My (my cousin) watching the water play.
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