Letterboxing and a Homecoming

This past weekend, I went away... all by myself. Marco & Alessandro had a boy's weekend and I had one long mommy playdate. I went to Oregon for the We Live and Breathe Letterboxing gathering. I flew into Portland Thursday night and Friday morning, my mom and I drove down to Colton, Oregon to Camp Adams for three days of tromping around in the woods, looking for tupperware.

If you don't know what letterboxing is you can find out more here and here, but basically it is a type of treasure hunt. Over 200 letterboxes were hidden at this 210-acre campground. I hiked so much, every muscle in my legs hurt. I met so many wonderful people. In particular, Smiley and Lexi-Bug, with whom my mom and I letterboxed with almost all weekend. On Saturday evening, there was a masquerade ball and I dressed up like a tiger. We then went out night boxing, so imagine me dressed like a tiger, wandering around the woods with a flashlight, looking for tupperware. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but you have no idea how much fun I had.

And now for the homecoming. I arrived home Monday morning and went directly to work. In the afternoon, I picked Marco up from school. He saw me right away and started screaming for me. He ran to me and jumped in my arms, hugging me so so tight. He held my face in his hands. He was just so happy. When we got home, he kept saying we're home, but I think he meant "you're home." He wanted to show me all his toys. That evening, I needed to go to the store and he seemed a little concerned that I was leaving again, but I assured him I would be right back and he was just fine. This morning, he woke up and was in such a great mood. He brought me a photo album and showed me pictures of myself and said "you're home." I was worried he might not want to go to school after he got me back, but we had no problems. He just wanted to make sure he got a hug and a kiss before saying good bye.

Marco's reaction to my being gone all weekend was the icing on the cake. He had a great weekend with Daddy, asking about me occasionally, but not at all upset. He was thrilled to see me come back. And he fell right back into our normal routine. I really had a wonderful weekend!