Thank you for the vote of support! I think, too, people don't realize how little family we actually get to see. Mine is all on the east coast, so casual trips there aren't possible. They would be just as extensive as a trip to the UK.

When I was growing up, I spent every summer from the time I was 9 until I was 15 at my aunt's house, babysitting her kids. Did I learn stuff it scares me to think my kids might learn, lol? Yes. But I got to be a little more independent as a result, and experienced more than I would have stuck at home for the summer in the middle of nowhere.