A Day At The Beach

Today the kids had no school so we decided to go to the beach! It feels like it’s been forever, there was nothing else on the calendar, and the weather was amazing….so it was the perfect day to go.

This lil one, even from when he was only a few months old, has never been afraid of the water! He used to crawl straight toward the waves and Matt and I would have to sprint after him to pick him back up before the next wave would come! Then he’d just laugh and laugh! Crazy kid…These two are inseparable and gosh it melts my heart when they play well together.And their facial expressions! ahhhh! This would normally be a picture I would get rid of or just store away on my hard drive…but I’m learning that it is these very raw moments…the ones with sand in their eyes and sheer joy running from the waves…that mean the most to me. Seriously, does it get any better than that look on his face??? He is SO happy!

Why this man chose me to spend his life with me is beyond me. Sometimes I look at him and I just cannot help but be overwhelmed with thankfulness.  I know I’m not always easy to live with, yet every day I see him making an overwhelming effort to love me well…even on the days when I am acting more than unlovable. I love how he jumps in and takes over the dishes so that I don’t have to be on my feet anymore. I love how he tells me he thinks I’m beautiful even when I haven’t showered in four (or more) days. I love how he continues to playfully flirt even when I act annoyed by it. I love how he ordered pizza tonight so that I wouldn’t have to rush to get dinner made after a long day at the beach…
The kids and their sandballs. Since we don’t ever get snow around here this is their way to act like “Elf” and throw as many as they can! I have no idea why he’s upside-down, but apparently it is super fun for him! 🙂 I read an article this morning about speaking well and verbally encouraging those you love most. I feel like I can always always always grow in this area. Today I let that become the focus of my heart…to choose to see only what was positive about my family and then speak it out loud to them when I noticed it. You’d be amazed how it can impact those around you…but what amazed me even more was how my own heart began to shift.

Sometimes it’s easy for me to get so distracted about things like how late of a start we got today, or how much work it is to pack up and load up all of our belongings to get to the beach, or how much bickering can happen over whether or not to watch the previews of a movie, or how I forgot the knife to make our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches…

Yet, when I focus on those things and I continue to allow them to pile up in my mind along with my endless expectations and unmet demands it’s easy to start looking at those I love most as an inconvenience rather than a blessing. I cannot tell you how thankful I was for that article this morning to genuinely and wholeheartedly focus on what is positive and lovely in each of the members of my family, to see it not only encourage them, but to see my own heart change in that as well.
Who would have known that ballet poses could be done on top of a bucket?! Kai was making her close her eyes too and sure enough she could still do it! Girl has got some talent!!!

The kids were feeding the pigeons the leftover parts of their lunch. I had my camera out and was snapping pics thinking my kids were so cute chasing all of those birds…and then I heard the couple next to me asking where in the world all the “flying rats” came from!  Whoops! “Uhhh…..well, it happens to be my kids’ fault! So so sorry sir! I told them they could feed the birds…errrr…flying rats”

Yikes.

 “Okay kids that’s enough of feeding the birds for today!”

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!