Together.

There is just something about kicking it for the day with our little family - an adventure into the great unknown - that just does something for my soul. Projects, messes, laundry, gardening, lawn work, housework, - everything! - just gets puts on hold, because it has too.

(At the beach with that little blue tub full of crabbies).

I can't see the work that needs to be done, therefore I don't think about it.

And thus, I am present.
Fully, totally, and completely invested.
There are no distractions.
I am single minded and focused.
And these are the best of times.



Deciding over breakfast, that it's time for an adventure.
Loading up everything that we might possibly need - swim stuff, buckets and nets, snacks, and sunscreen - and we are off!

Music blasting, windows rolled down, and car dancing for all we are worth - we kick it for the day. No agenda but to be together. Sometimes we know exactly where we're going. Sometimes we only know the general direction. Some days we throw naps completely to the wind. And some days our sanity deems it necessary to return home. Some trips require minimal effort, and some are extremely hairy, leaving us looking at each other on the way home saying: "I'm not sure, but I think that was fun."


But it never matters.
We've been together, and that was enough.

We took a conscious break from life.
We stopped. We slowed. We savored.
And we made yet another family memory.


We might never do anything extravagent or enviable to others.
We might never travel the world.
Our vacations may be simple, and silly, and cheap.

We're going to make a ton of mistakes.
We're going to have countless regrets, I'm sure of it.
It's in the nature of the job description of "parent."

But, I know one thing, for sure.
My kids will never doubt my love for them.
They'll know for a certain fact that Mommy was never perfect, and nor did she claim to be.

But, they will know for equally certain that I loved them with everything within me.

Sometimes, I just do it better on daytrips.