Sarah Speaks
The following post is written by Sarah, who is guest-blogging for the day. Adam will be back in control Friday, if obeying the every whim of a 9-year-old boy counts as being in control.
Given I got all up in Adam’s business over the past week, the least I could do is give him the day off from blogging.
As most of our friends know, Adam and I have differences of opinions on how to vacation. I prefer the beach with a fruity, alcohol-infused drink peppered with some water sports, while Adam chooses locations with the most adventure. So for me sand = beach, while for Adam sand = the deserts of Namibia. So when I decided to join my boys for a week on the road trip, I knew I wasn’t getting my dream vacation, but at least I’d see the boys.
I picked the West Coast as my week to join because it had beaches in it. Not surprisingly, I never made it into a bathing suit or a lounge chair. I didn’t even end up having a sip of alcohol. As you read from Adam’s prior posts, we saw a ton of interesting things (see below for all my foursquare check-ins), and even got to get in on the action with things like the dune buggy rides. But for me, there may have been a bit too much action.
There were a couple of things I could have done better to brace myself for a different kind of vacation. First of all, I should have obeyed my own rules. When I hire new employees, I always advise them to listen first before taking action. And yet I crashed the boys’ party and started asserting control and finding more efficient ways to do things before listening. Considering they’d been doing this for almost three weeks, they probably have a pretty good system, and I should have just gone along with the program. Secondly, I should have rolled with the punches. No need to rehash the two speeding tickets in two days, my lost credit card, or the many hours I spent driving in the wrong direction around Cowlitz County, Washington. Needless to say, it wasn’t smooth sailing, but I didn’t react as well as I should have. We finally got into a much better groove once I handed the car keys back to Adam, and the past two days were really a ton of fun.
Despite the melee, as I sit here on the plane flying back home solo, I look back at the trip really positively. It is really amazing to see the boys together. Sam’s attitude was so incredibly positive that it was truly infectious. Adam and The Hamster are in a groove like I’ve never seen them before. They have private jokes, they have their own songs, and they’re just totally in sync whether it’s packing the car, reasoning with each other, or determining the agenda for the day. The Hamster has taken on more responsibilities, largely due to necessity, and he’s grown up a lot in the past few weeks, and I give Adam a ton of credit for that.
So while I’m really going to miss them for the next couple of weeks as they make their way home, I’m super happy knowing they’re having such an incredible experience together. Looking forward to reading more about it right here … so Adam, you’re back up for tomorrow.
The Hamster and the Highway 
Its great to hear an outside voice talking about their adventure. Though it must be a bit sad to be the outside voice. Don’t worry, your time with them will probably be the most talked about (for better or worse). I’ll try to keep in mind your advice when I finally decide the teaching thing isn’t working out and join your team.