recovery

yesterday we needed a day of recovery.

we were recovering from overtiredness and exhaustion brought on by school days, soccer practice, and full time farming.

from the crabbies,

and from communication based only on the whine

so we ventured to a place of healing and rejuvenation and fun. the beach. i asked the boys what they would like to do special today and they requested the beach with auntie beans, uncle austin and auntie kels. well, since the aunties and uncles had school and jobs to deal with, the boys settled for the beach with their mama and off we went.


jesus provided us with a beautiful beach day in oct. the weather was made for sandy dunes and splashing. warm temps, sunny skies, and happy children filled our trip. we ate a picnic lunch consisting of saltines and peanut butter, apples, juice boxes, and some cookies. clearly i should have gone to the grocery store, but the beach was beckoning. i called my dear friend blair who lives nearby and she took her son lj over for a bit. the kids slid, swang, and ran while we chatted and delighted in their happiness.

at long last, we climbed the steps to the lake. we had a dump truck and monster truck in tow so it was a long hike. but totally worth the trip. at the beach we found some "hot tubs" leftover from other adventurers. ayla jo crawled right in and proceeded to splash herself silly.

maxer, typically not a fan of getting his clothes wet and dirty, went all out and embraced the sand and water.

bear got increasingly wet and uncomfortable that he had to continuously take off layers until he was sporting only his incredibles undies and some tears. the tears were from a teaching moment in which he splashed me with water and i splashed him back. he did not enjoy this lesson.

the babes crawled and ran and dripped and laughed and took advantage of all the beach had to offer until the crying outweighed the giggles and we packed up all the wet clothes, toys and kids and hiked it up the steps.

at one point on our journey to the veen, i had the baby girl on my hip, wes on my back, drippy clothes clutched in one hand, keys, camera and phone in the pockets of my wet pants making them perilously close to sliding right on off, monster truck strung through the fingers of my other hand and sweat pouring off me.

the lord was faithful today and we made it to the veen. i dropped off one load and went to retrieve discarded shoes and toys by the play area. i then attempted to turn on oliver and company, the vhs, to quiet the escalating fits of my hungry, thirsty, tired, wet and demanding children. at this point i noticed, my keys were no longer in my pocket.

i panicked. i had visions of the keys slipping out of my pocket as i hauled kids and toys up the steps. i broke out into hives and emptied my disaster of a van onto the parking space next to me. finally i remembered that in order to have got the kids in their seats i had to have unlocked the van at some point so the keys were around here and not down by the beach. a mere 15 minutes later, the boys had emptied all water bottles, the cupcake pooped in her last remaining diaper on the trip and i found the lost keys wedged in between the drivers and passenger seats.

hallelujah.

we made it home without further incident and are spending another day recovering.