My babies are gone. Far away in a distant land where they will skip around with fairies and hold hands with superheroes. 

Mama Meg and Peepaw took them to Disneyworld for a long weekend.

Here they are prior to their 6:50 pm flight:

When they gave them the trip as a Christmas present, Maria jumped up with joy and gave them huge hugs.  Mario looked at me and pleaded for me and Jon to go with him. For weeks afterward, he told us that he wanted to go but he really wanted us to go, too.  We kept explaining to him that Peepaw and Mama Meg would take good care of him and they would have so much fun riding rides and swimming in the pool.  He remained skeptical.  

Until about three weeks ago.  Ri was talking to Alana and Gio about going and they were telling her she was lucky.  Mario was listening to the conversation but refraining from joining in the mix.  They all proceeded to play a game together and the conversation moved onto other topics like who had the biggest sword and who made the best Minecraft home.  But that evening, Mario asked me how many days until Disneyworld.  I told him 14 or 15 and he laid his head on his hands and stared up at me in his bed.  

“Are you excited?” I asked him.

“Yea. Will you miss me?”

“Of course I will miss you but I will be so happy thinking about you having a great time.  I have never been to Disney and you get to go at age 6!”  

He smiled and reached out to hold my hand.

Since that evening, he has asked nearly every day “how many more days?”  And in the evening before bed, he has taken his black pen and marked an “X” on the day in order to count how many more days until February 14 – the day they would leave for Disney.  Ri did not any of that to get her going.  She knew how many days by just thinking about it in her head.  She had the flight all planned out.  No iPad was needed for her.  She would read her book in order to complete her 100 minutes of reading that she would be required to complete by the time she returned to school on Wednesday the 19th.  

This week, they woke up every day counting down the number of days remaining until they left.  Whenever they started to fight or get mad about something, I would say “come on, this is Disney week, cheer up!” And nearly every time, they would.  On Thursday night, Jon and I gave them each a Valentine’s Day card, a little beanie baby to clip on their suitcases, candy for the flight, and a $25 gift card to Disney.  Mario looked at the Disney card and got really excited.  “Is this a credit card? Can I buy anything I want?”  His eyes enlarged as he held the card tight against his chest.  We explained it only had $25 on it and that he could buy a lot of little things or one big thing (actually, one little thing at Disney is probably $25).  He looked dejected but still thanked us.

We packed clothes after the present opening.  Actually, I packed while they played in Mario’s bed.  They were way too excited to concentrate on one activity.  I bought them each some new shorts and t-shirts since they both have grown since last Summer (last Summer they fit in a lot of things from the Summer before, so nice…).  Then we read a book while laying in Ri’s room.  Jon came in for the second book and we all laid in Ri’s bed.  I love those moments.  

When Mario got up this morning, he walked into the bedroom and announced “It’s Disney World Day!”  They both got dressed and ate some breakfast and gathered up their Valentines to take to classmates.  I kissed them both goodbye and told them they were the best babies I could ever ask for in my life.  They told me they loved me and they closed the door to Jon’s Yukon.  I got a bit melancholy about them leaving.  I did my normal worrying: “will they get in an accident, will they get sick, will they get lost….”  It is really ridiculous how the mind churns out these non-productive thoughts without any provoking.  But I also felt like time was slipping through my fingers.  Maria walked out the door with her backpack on her back, her hood up, her boots zipped up to her knees all trendy looking. Mario followed her chatting about something that happened at lunch the day before.  They were both talking in complete sentences. When did that happen? Remember when Ri first said “mama” and Mario first said “dad?” They were both fully upright and walking.  And that happened when? Remember when I hoisted Mario on my hip everywhere I went or when I carried Ri in the backpack until age 4?  My doctor told me “the days are long but the years are short” and she hit it on the mark.  

I took off for a couple hours in the afternoon to hit the Valentine’s Day parties.  I got to Mario’s room at 1:50 thinking the party started at 1:30. It started at 2.  So I hung out with the other moms and waited for Mario to come in from the playground.  Kids began shuffling into the classroom at 2, looking up at their moms and waving hi.  Mario came in eventually and glanced up to take an inventory of the moms.  He caught me in the corner and his face exploded with joy.  He smiled wide and ran over to me with his arms extended.  He held my hand and led me to his table and I was his for the rest of the day.  They did all sorts of activities and ate lots of sugar.  And then he made me a Valentine’s card with invisible crayon.  When I wrote over it, it revealed the words “I love you.” Precious.  He allowed me to run down to Ri’s classroom and see her for a few minutes.  That third grade classroom was much more low key. Everyone was at their tables over their heads and they pushed them away giggling and blushing.  and making their Valentine bags.  They had fruit kebabs and heart-shaped jelly sandwiches.  But then I asked if I could get a picture of the girls in the classroom and that started chaos.  The boys tried to photobomb and the girls pushed them away. Boys put bunny ears 

After school, the kids went down Kindergarten Hill to find Mama Meg and Peepaw.  Hugs and kisses ensued and then a race to the car.  I went back to work for an hour and when I came home, Ri and Mario stopped me at the door.  

“Don’t come in the kitchen, mom! Dad has a surprise for you!” 

They held me in the hall for a minute and then led me in the kitchen.  There was our new kitchen table I bought from Amazon for $190 plus $110 shipping.  Jon had asked his friend Jason to come put it together while we were at work (what would he do without Jason?!”).  I screamed with excitement and the kids both smiled.  They love seeing Jon and I happy.  We gathered a few more last minute items to throw in their bags and the kids gave Rocco a ton of kisses.  They wrapped their arms around me and then Jon and told us they loved us.  I told them I loved them so so much and that I couldn’t wait to hear about their days.  We stood on the porch as they drove off to the airport waving and blowing kisses their way.

Then we walked in the house and sighed. Where was the chaos? The coats on the floor? The laughing? 

I took Rocco for a walk in the light snow.  I thought about how lucky I was to have all of these grandparents who give Ri and Mario such an array of experiences.  I thought about Ri and Mario and how daggone big they are getting and how much they are learning and absorbing about this world. And then a worry popped in my head. 

“What if my parents need a notarized permission slip to take the kids on the flight? They don’t have the same last name so security may not let them get on board. Then they would have to miss a day at Disney if they could even make another flight tomorrow….” 

And then I stopped. I stood on the sidewalk while Rocco ate some snow.  Stop it, I told myself.  Let it be.  It is going to be a lot harder when they are in high school and heading out on a Saturday night with friends.  They will be fine. They will have fun.  They will grow up.  Just make those years spread out as much as possible.