And They're Off!

This morning, I said goodbye to my little man as he drove off with his Aunt Juju and Uncle Ryan.  This will be his first time away from us for more than one overnight.  Granted, it's just two nights, but it feels like such a big milestone!!  They're heading down to South Carolina for my younger sister's high school graduation.  We'll be joining them at my mom and step-dad's on Sunday morning.  He's going to have such an awesome time, but I can't seem to squash my worrying (typical...) I hope they drive safe, I hope everyone else on the road drives safe around them, I hope he doesn't miss me too much at bedtime, I hope he doesn't get sunburned, I hope, I hope, I hope...

He's been so excited about this trip, asking me the past three nights at bedtime "will Juju and Ryan be here when I wake up?"  This morning was the big day when they actually did arrive overnight and when he woke up, he went quietly downstairs and crawled onto the pull-out to snuggle them.  When I went down to check on him, he was just laying next to aunt as she slept.  He was so content.  They left at 8:30 this morning.  I just talked to my sister and he's already told her "I like this car ride, Aunt Juju!"  (Let's see if he's still saying that in another 8 hours or so...)  I'm so happy for him to have this time - independence from Mom and Dad.  He needs it.  And quite honestly, we do, too.  We'll be freshly re-charged when we meet with the family on Sunday for a long-overdue few days with the South Carolina extension of our clan!