They Grow Up SO Fast

As any parent can tell you, kids grow up so fast.  I can't believe my son is turning 10 in less than a month (mostly because I can't be old enough to have a 10 year old)!  And my daughter lost her first tooth (albeit late and with the help of a dentist).  My nephew is talking in full sentences and I've missed it (sniff).  But all of that is for another day, because today is about another big thing that's happened in our house.

After living with us for the last 7 months, my parents have been able to find a place of their own.  In fact, they spent their first night at their new place yesterday.

I'll be honest.  I'm happy they found a place.  Happy for them, because now they have their own space to do with as they like.  They no longer have to worry about whether we will approve of something.  I'm also happy for us because pretty soon we will be able to move my daughter into a bigger room.

At the same time, I'm a bit sad.  After all, it's been nice having my parents around.  I've had company when hubby was at work at night.  I've had an extra set of hands in the kitchen, cleaning, and running errands.  I've also had someone available to babysit pretty much at the drop of a hat.  And most importantly, my kids are going to missing having lots of time with their grandparents.  I didn't spend that much time with my grandparents because we lived so far from them, so 7 months of living in the same house gives them a relationship I'm happy for.

The good news is that their new place is only 4 miles (and about 10 minutes) from our house so it's not like they live states away as before so although they are not living in the same house as us, the close relationship can continue.

Preparations

Well, the bitter-sweet preparations have begun for us to pack up and leave the Manatee Hammock.  I am happy to be heading North to see family and friends, but we have spent 7 weeks of our 12 weeks camping thus far, here.  We've seen dolphins, manatees, and alligators in the wild here, Jason learned to swim without a life jacket, we saw 2 shuttle launches, 1 rocket launch, and hopefully a night rocket launch tonight while here.  We've also gotten to know the area and the people who work at the campground.

We have every intention of coming back here again some time.  This campground is a good location for getting to Cocoa Beach and we both have the surfing bug (unfortunately the weather the last 3 weeks has not cooperated even a little for that to happen again).

It's really sad to think how different things could be when we return.  I was talking to one of the staff the other night and there are predictions that because of the shuttle program shutting down, they think unemployment in the area in 6 months will be 28%.  The county parks department (that he works for) just laid off 14 workers.  I really hope for the sake of the people in this area that NASA and government officials can get their act together and figure out the next goal that needs to be achieved, or this area is going to be hurting in a big way and very soon.