6,000 miles flown
540 miles driven
236 pictures snapped
187 (approximately) fresh blackberries eaten
23 family members gathered
13 family members (mostly teachers) missed (next time we won’t do this over Labor Day weekend)
7 days gone
3 boats paddled, sailed, and rowed (a lot)
1.5 gallons of apple cider pressed
1 happy, sleepy family, glad to be home.

The place: JFK airport, just outside the jetway

The players: Mom and 3 (or so) year old daughter, who have just exited the airplane after our 5+ hour flight from San Francisco

The scene: Daughter lying on the floor, prone, kicking and wailing. Mother standing over her, exasperated.

The dialogue:
Daughter: (unintelligible)
Mother: “Get up! This is not a good place for a tantrum!”

I throw the mom a sympathetic glance as we walk by — I feel her pain, I do — but later Tony and I discover that the same tantrum check list has run through our heads: “Is this a public place? Is this inconvenient? Is this embarrassing? This is a great place for a tantrum!”

At JetBlue’s terminal in JFK:

• 1 bottle of water $1.95
• 1 bottle of lemonade $2.99
• 1 tub of cut-up apples (with caramel sauce that I dumped in the trash before Ben noticed): $3.95
• 1 tub of strawberries and blueberries: $3.95
• 2 chunks of cheese: $.99 each
• 1 JetBlue airplane set: $19.95
• 1 bigger bottle of water: $3.95
• 1 copy of Lolly Winston’s Good Grief (which I have yet to open): $6.99
• 2 raspberry yogurts: $1.89
• 2 tubs of cold cereal: $3.50 each
• 2 bottles of milk: $2 each
• 1 package of barbecued tofu: $6.95
• 1 package of tofu cesar salad: $6.95
• 1 bottle of Advil: $6.95

Total elapsed flight delay: 6 hours
Total financial cost: $81.34
Summer vacation with family, despite everything: priceless!