I've set out to write this post a couple of times over the course of last night... and then again today, and each time I've felt uninspired. Called away from the luminant frame of my screen by a little girl caught up in an imaginary tale of princesses and towers on her bed during rest time or by her baby brother's request for "hold you, mommy?" or "wets pway weggos!" (I'll let you figure out that second one. Did you re-read it? Yep, there you go.)
I think it's been a good trade.
After a couple of days of blowing my way through too many boxes of tissue, impromptu
hey-let's go-see-a-movie dates, one with my bestie and one with my man, walks on the beach and catching up on household duties, bases are frickin' loaded. It's been a busy week and we've been swinging away, making memories while balancing the load of, well, everything else. And even with an entire head that feels stuffed up, it's been good.
"Don't tell me the sky's the limit when I know there are footprints on the moon."
~Paul Brandt
There are times when the list of Too Much To Do seems overwhelming, but usually, tell me there's not time and I'll shoot for the moon anyway. I may be a timid ball player in real life (or to be completely honest, a
non-ball player in real life), but metaphorically... having fun with my kids, soaking in life and breathing in all I can? I'm a heavy hitter.
With that, some
things we've been enjoying lately... what we've been swinging at.
Enjoying sunset on the beach.
The night I returned home from my trip to
the windy, chilly city of Chicago we piled into the car and high-tailed it to the beach, making it with about 30 minutes to spare before sunset, and the sky delivered a magnificent, applause-receiving show beginning with it's bright white cotton clouds against a cerulean sky and quickly progressing to shades of my favorite crayons, like Outrageous Orange, Scarlet and Sunset Orange. Touche, Crayola, touche.
As Brayden stepped off that last plank of wood and his toddler toes began to sink in sugar soft sand, he ran the wide open space with us all following. I laughed as he squealed, "Sand! Sand! Water!" It was the perfect welcome home. Hello, beach. I've missed you too.
A swing, and a hit.
Pre-sunset frolic.
And what good is the perfect glow of a sinking sun as the warm waters of the gulf crest the sand without a water splashing escapade or two. Or three.
I spy Aliyah's cute little bum in one of the photos above... sticking out as she collects shells.
I picked, you picked, we all picked oranges!
Okay, I forgot to give a forewarning for the cheese that might ooze from this post. But alas it's already poured out it's golden glow onto this page. Or is it the golden glow of the oranges? Either way, we've been in Florida for about six months now and since the move I've wanted to visit an orange grove. I've driven past them, looked them up, tried to find the best one... and finally, decided to just do it. So we packed up the kids and took a drive. The verdict? It's magical, a warm weather juxtaposition the the apple orchards that we would frequent as soon as fall's chill would begin to cool the Michigan air. And just as different as oranges and apples are, that welcoming hallway to walk between the trees and breathe in natures crescendo as you find the perfect tree, well, that's just the same.
Though, when we started out, the only oranges left were high up in the trees, so we improvised and made it work. Well, I made Chris work.
Oh! And on the way, we swung in next to Mickey and picked up some friends visiting from Michigan... on their honeymoon of all things! Remember Micah and Emily?
But as we ventured further down the grass floor of the grove's own hallways, the greenery grew more lush and full, the oranges abundant.
Little man has been a bit clingy since I've been back, and I'll happily indulge.
I wasn't sure how the day would turn out, the sky was flat and gray and gave the allure of impending showers, but I love giving my kids
the experience of plucking fresh produce from their source, to see where the foods we eat are grown and how they come... not from a big box store, but in their truest form, in nature. And it felt good to be out there, with my little ones, seeing, growing, learning, doing... together. That and running for the country store once the sprinkles began to fall from the shaded heavens.
The animal whisperer scores again!
We're swimming in oranges, so amazing orange recipes are welcome.
Kisses.
His kisses are always abundant, and when he gives one, it's usually followed by, "Nother one?" And then, "nother" and "nother."
Birthdays.
And celebrations of birth, the most deserving of celebrations. Brayden recently turned
the big two, and we're planning an upcoming pseudo Birthday party to celebrate with friends. We're swinging again, and going for the home run baby.
What are you enjoying this weekend? Please do tell.
And feel free to link up your weekend or quote posts with this week's
Sunday Citar, we'd love to have you!
