Isabelle took her first trip away! My mom and Mikenzie were going up to visit Carol in Atlanta for the week and came by my house to pick something up on the way out of town. While at my house they asked Isabelle if she wanted to go with them to see her cousins. Isabelle immediately said yes and I started to panic. My little girl hadn't been away from both Charles and me for more than a night and that had only happened twice. Once when I was in the hospital having Anya and the other time she went to my dad's for a night, again with all her cousins. I explained to her that she wouldn't be able to see me for a lot of days, but she was okay with that. I was now really starting to panic. I told my mom I would have to call Charles and ask him. I thought for sure he would say no... au contraire.. he said he thought it was a great idea, that it would be a great experience for Isabelle and that she would have so much fun playing with her cousins. I couldn't believe he was saying yes. By this point Isabelle was upstairs packing her suitcase. I went upstairs to help her and felt like a zombie, like I was just going through the motions. Still in shock. A few minutes later she was getting in the car. Everything happened so quickly. I only had a matter of maybe 20 minutes at most to get used to the idea of her leaving me. As they drove off I cried like a baby. I missed her the whole week. Each time I would look in her room and she wasn't there I just felt an emptiness. Anya missed her too, she would look all over for her. At night Isabelle would call and have me sing her songs to her before she went to bed. That made me feel better, like she still needed me. Isabelle did great while she was away. They had a great time playing with all the cousins and going to the Aquarium. By the last day she was ready to come home. I watched at the window the last few minutes till they drove in the driveway. What a feeling of relief, it was so wonderful to see her.
My sister Ashley drove to Atlanta from SC with her boys to spend a day with everyone.
