Life's a Beach

This summer was such a whirlwind and I find myself in a place of not wanting to do anything.  Its lovely, and yet I still have this laundry list of things that I want done and one of them is this.  Its hard to find balance (which I think is an illusive ideology), and I simply refuse to feel guilty about my desire to do nothing......well that and my husband.......but more on that later.

I just can't let this Summer to by without memorializing Lily's final trip to the beach.  This girl.  She loves horses and mountains and she loves beach and sand and sun. Frankly, Lily Grace is an adventurer and is just up for anything.

Bob and I sent our girls in separate directions towards the end of the summer.  Evie spent a couple weeks with Memaw, and Lily headed out to Florida with Grandpa Bob.

Within short order of her arrival, they had experienced a fabulous resort on the Keys, and had the unique opportunity to see a Momma Manatee and her baby floating nearby.  A really cool sight for the 3 of them.

The big adventure that Grandpa Bob and Grandma Lynn had for Lily right off the bat was snorkeling.  The kid got a private snorkel tour out in the ocean.  She's fearless and they literally couldn't keep her out of the water.  Not only did she see loads of amazing fish, but she and Grandpa swam over sharks!  She loved it and was carrying on great conversations with her snorkel in her mouth.

Not one to miss out on every opportunity, Lily saw someone parasailing and decided that needed to be  her next trick.  Grandma held the camera and Grandpa and Lily went parasailing!

What an adventure!  

On their way back from the Keys they stopped at IFLY.  Indoor skydiving is something that Lily has waited and waited and asked for for a very long time and I have held out waiting for the perfect time.  This was really special and by golly, she was good at it!

I flew in a day later and got to spend a couple days on the beach with my firstborn.  I don't get to do this often enough because Evie is usually in tow, but spending time with Lily was a joy.  Shes a fun kid.

One of our favorite mornings was breakfast at "The Island Cow."  We were so fortunate to happen upon it when we did because the line for it is usually out the door.  It was such a fun and eclectic place full of plenty of pancakes, coffee, and funfetti cupcakes for appetizers (for breakfast.....not kidding).

In the time I was there we did more fun filled activities, paddleboards and jetskis and kite flying!

My and my girl had some fun. 

and even did some yoga.

Grandma Lynn and I even enjoyed an afternoon Margarita at one of the oceanside restaurants we stopped at. It was good, and refreshing, and such a joy.

There is no hiding it, jetskiing is seriously my favorite!  We were so fortunate because the day we jetskiied it rained buckets for nearly the entire day save our jet skiing hour!

Grandpa took Lily out first and then I got to  take her out.  The consensus?  Mom you go WAY too fast.  Man are my kids different.  With Evie I literally bruised my legs desperately holding her onto the seat while Daddy drove faster.....faster.......FASTER.  We were caught in windy surf and I was even timid and I still drove too fast.

No matter, we had a BLAST!  An absolute blast and I love that I got to spend some one on one time with this awesome kid! 

Back to School

We do not shy away from the truth, Bob and I were 150% ready for our children to go back to school.  But, here's the down and the low.......

Our kids were more excited than us.

Lets face it, we all love each other, but we are all a wee bit tired of each other after a packed summer of near 24/7 engagement.  When you have friends to play with, all the things to learn, teacher's to meet, and parents not to be around, you can't wait to get back to school.

In fact, on the first day of school I got up, went to the gym, and left in time to be home by 7 so that I could do the whole make breakfast, pick out clothes, do hair, and get them all excited.  I walked into my house to both of the girls, up, dressed, hair combed, beds made, breakfast consumed, teeth brushed, shoes on, and back packs loaded.

"Mom, we want to go to school, can we go now?"  To which I replied, "Oh man, I wish, but school isn't even open for another 50 minutes!"

You would have thought I told them they had to stay home and clean.  We literally had poor attitudes over the fact that they had to wait an additional 50 minutes to go to school.  So after pulling their attitudes up because, come on kids, you can suffer through pictures and waiting for 50 minutes, we finally began the walk to school.

Upon arrival, Evie took off without so much as a hug, while Lily flew upstairs and we didn't even know where she was.  I finally ran into Evie who begrudgingly took a selfie with me (that was too blurry to post) and after saying "Bee, do you want me to hang with you till the bell?" told me "No Mom, me and Aunna are going to play." Ummmmm okay, Ill go find Lily then.

We headed upstairs only to find Lily out in the field running around with 4 of her closest friends.  She didn't even acknowledge us across the field. So we talked to the teacher and told her how much we appreciated her, "Good Luck" on day 1, and high tailed it home.

So yes, THIS picture was apt for our back to school morning.

Number one parenting goal, raise our girls to be bold enough to not need us.  Mom and Dad get an A++!

Its the start of a brand new school year, the time is flying, but we are living and doing and raising our girls to soar.  

Dear Jesus, go with my girls.  Be with them and give them wisdom.  Help them to be kind, compassionate, and caring ladies.  I pray this year would be filled with new, and adventure, and learning.  I pray that they would step into the adventure that awaits them with courage, conviction, and a smile.  Mold them, love them, and be the still small voice that helps them do good and love others.  They are GREAT kids, be GREAT in them. 

Amen.