Back home now, with only a few items missing, and none of them mine (or at least not that I’ve noticed so far), I think about what this week means to my family, the role it has begun to play. 

The toddlers, two going on three, may actually remember this summer’s trip, and if not, they will remember next year’s, I hope. The baby had a new place to crawl — actually a couple of new places, if you count the fair. The pre-teen was given a little more freedom. And the adults had a chance to reconnect and have fun. 

The months and years pass, and while this week doesn’t completely slow them down, it does freeze-frame them. And that will have to do.  

(What a difference a year makes. Photos by CCG.)