Blowing off the cobwebs

If you ever want to lose blogging momentum, go away for three weeks. It also helps if prior to that you're so busy trying to wrangle two teenagers and a kid who thinks he's a teenager that you just lose track of the blog.

My sister's wedding was wonderful. It was small the way she wanted, just family and a few friends, but it was traditional enough to make our dad happy. He finally got to give away one of his daughters, and before Nika and Peter left the reception (dinner party, really) he told his new son-in-law that returns are allowed, but there's a hefty restocking fee. And I think Peter is taking him seriously.

They took off on their honeymoon and Ian and I took off for Belgium, where he had some buisness to take care of. After getting the ball rolling on that we went to visit some of his family in Ireland. That was absolutely beautiful. He was born in a small coastal town but doesn't really remember much of it, so seeing things was as new to him as it was to me. He has a huge extended family and they made a point of coming together for a family dinner when we were there, even though he doesn't really know most of them. It was still fun, and felt a lot like home.

After that we met Nika and Peter in Johannesburg to meet Peter's family. I expected that to be awkward, but they were very welcoming and a little offended that we intended to stay in a hotel. we spent most of our time with them and didn't get out to see much, but that turned out to be all right. By the time we left they all felt like family, and we were certain that we'd like to bring the kids back next year.

After that we all flew into London, and I headed home with Nika and Peter; Ian had to go back to Belgium and is still there. The business he needed to take care of turned out to be stickier than we originally thought it would be, and I have no idea when he'll be able to come home, but he can't leave until he has everything settled.

I really would like it to be soon, though, because the kids feel like it's his job all over again, and even though he's just taking care of a personal business matter, they're all on edge. I swear, if one more teenager rolls eyes at me...Well, I'll call my dad and let him handle it :)