The Great Unwinding

Today was the great unwinding, when we have to undo all the things we do to make our time here what we want it to be. It was also a really beautiful day, so there were some last-time fun things to do, too. We spent the day packing up, cleaning, taking down the hammocks (that was actually yesterday), and cleaning out the fridge. We also gave Farrah a bath outside. I packed up all the beads from our friendship bracelet work and packed up all my amigurumi. 

We spent a very long time down at the pond after lunch--the kids had an epic swimming afternoon, more time in the open water than on their floats. I truly can't believe they were so into the pond this year. I thought they'd stay on the dock and maybe their floats--but they were all in. They had so much fun. We hated to bring it to a close, but by 4:30 it was time to take down the rope and deflate all the inflatables.

Greta really wanted one last visit to the lagoon, so we did that next. Both kids brought their rings and we had a hair-tossing photo shoot. 

Then, for a final goodbye, a final swim in our cousins' pool. (I stayed home, took a cool shower, and sat shirtless in front of a fan, because shingles. Can't wait to make a doctor's appointment once we're home.)

We spent the rest of the evening having dinner (random things from the fridge--a few meatballs, two pieces of pizza, some leftover pasta, tater tots), then more packing and cleaning and laundry. We all made sandwiches for the drive.

Now we're nearly ready to go. Three weeks is a perfect amount of time here. It's getting much hotter now that we're into July, and without AC, it's pretty hard to be comfortable. And of course I'm looking forward to all the creature comforts that will see me through this low, low spell of my physical health--cool oatmeal baths in my deep tub, a large pile of pillows, many options for comfortable clothes, and, of course, most of all, the cool, dry paradise of an air-conditioned house. 

But it's always sad to leave. Stress (makeshift Zoom setup; interviews; flying to PA) and inconveniences (no AC, no garbage disposal, no dishwasher this year) and health (pulled muscle, shingles) aside, the kids had a magical time in their own sisterly world. A few small memories:

• Sipping "wine" (Polar Orange Dry soda) from tiny, fancy cordial glasses
• Having Sister Secrets Time every night, long after the lights go out, where they tell each other secrets that they claim we can never know
• Staying up till midnight every night, reading in bed with their book lights
• The haunted dolls, Marigold and Audrey (one final photo shoot tonight in the house's creepiest bedroom)
• Blood-curdling screaming in the pond, pushing each other off the dock, chasing each other around in the ring floats
• Hours and hours and hours reading books in their beds during rainy days (they've each read about 15 books here
• De-emphasis on all things electronic. Always a magical bonus. No TV here, no watching anything, much less texting since friends are at camp and traveling etc. They've lost what little interest they had in Roblox, though they did start playing Brick Breaker or something like that. Greta was excited to tell us that when she checked her "screen time" tracker on her phone one day, she'd been on her phone a total of 10 minutes.
• Total freedom to play, relax, be silly. Magical summertime.

We have half the summer left, with lots of fun ahead. But tonight--goodbye, New Hampshire. We weren't sure the uncertainty of our life would allow us to make it this year, but we did it.