Testosterone

Although my children slept most of the return flight home and we sailed through customs and our bag was not lost, I was exhausted. (I give myself a golf clap for traveling to Asia and packing three people's worth of clothes for fourteen days into one suitcase that did not exceed fifty pounds!) Nevertheless, my little adventure justifiably left me drained from jet lag and, prior to that, pounding the pavement visiting four countries with temperamental companions. All this tempered by the constant fear that I might lose one of them along the way.

So, yeah, reentry was brutal. The coup de grace being the synchronised arrival of my teenage nephews for their annual two week visit with me ON THE SAME DAY I RETURNED HOME. Masochistic, is the word that comes to mind. The only thing I did right (other than opening the door to let them in) was to have a car pick them up at the airport because there was no way in hell that I was going to return to LAX to pick them up six hours after setting foot in my house. Thank God they were now too old to be "Unaccompanied Minors." And since El Mysterioso was already at the lake house, I was still technically single-parenting and now I had two more individuals to add to the mix.

Two cute, tall, skinny teens greeted me with a grunt and a slap on the shoulder and proceeded to raid the pantry for something to eat. I returned to bed.


I vaguely remember the fourth of July. When the fog lifted and I regained my bearings, we had joined EM in the mountains and Jack and my nephews had their posteriors embedded in the couch with the remote control fused to their hands. Makena used them as her personal jungle gym and they were happy to entertain her which was quite gratifying to see. I went back to bed.

What is it with teens? Is it the advent of facial hair or the adjustment to testosterone that turns once sweet, curious little boys into mini cavemen with monosyllabic responses to questions making conversations a thing of the past? EM thought two aliens had descended upon us and kidnapped Jack who was so happy to surrender himself to them for their teenager boot camp.


Trying to get them to pose for a picture was impossible. Their radar was on full alert and anytime I pulled the camera out, they would bolt or hide. I seriously had to pretend to be looking at something on my phone to capture their images surreptitiously. A yeti would be easier to photograph.


Seriously, their two week visit with us is always the highlight of Jack's summer, he loves them so much.

Regardless of our minor communication issues we love having them around and for all their quirks, they are always happy to play with their youngest cousin or attempt to beat me at ping pong. (Never going to happen!)

Is - ugh - belle