The Call of the Sea

Having grown up in the Midwest - about as far from the ocean as you can get - beach vacations didn't really exist for me. I went once with my parents but really have no actual memories of it. My first real beach vacation came as a sophomore in college on Spring Break, where becoming one with the ocean really was never on the itinerary. So for most of my life, the draw that people feel to the ocean was a mystery to me. Sure I enjoyed going and drinking my rum drink in the sand but that was all that was there. But then I met, fell in love with and married a man with salt water in his veins and over this past decade, especially after this vacation with the kids, I am finally beginning to understand the pull....

It is the awe, excitement, fear, and wonder in my children's eyes as they watch the waves crash on the shore. And it is the ever changing mixture of those emotions from moment to moment depending on how high the tide is and where they are. It is the sandcastles to be built and the fresh canvass each day to start anew. It is the endless search for buried treasure.

It is the eternal optimism of a crazy dog thinking that she could ever catch a sandpiper.

It is the continual roar of the ocean that drowns everything out, including your own thoughts, and forces you to actually think about nothing.

It is the strange calm that only comes over my husband when he stands on those shores.

Now, honestly, I think I will always find my true peace standing in the middle of the wide open plains of the Midwest but pretty soon I think the ocean might rank a close second.

Listening Walk

A while ago I stumbled across the book The Listening Walk. Perhaps most of you have heard of/ thought of a listening walk but I really hadn't until I read the book. People always tell you to stop and smell the roses but no one ever says "Stop and listen to the crickets."

Since then I have tried to take the kids every so often on one, especially in a new environment. This week we took a wonderful one at night. Our condo has a large pond on one side and the ocean on the other so we got the best of both worlds. We heard crickets chirping and frogs bellowing at each other. The kids had fun trying to guess what all the animals were saying and talking about. Then we strolled over to the beach and listened to the waves crash on the shore. Finally we looked up and tried to count all the stars in the sky.

It is amazing what you can hear when you shut up for a moment and listen (not to mention listening is a great way to keep your children quiet so you can steal a moments peace). So if you have a moment stop and listen to the crickets.

Vacation Frustration

Did you know that I am psychic?? I am. I have the awesome power of ESP but only in very specific instances - OK actually just one. I can walk into any restaurant in the United States whether it be in Florida or Colorado or wherever and tell you without ever seeing a child's menu what is on it. Though to be fair - any Mom who has a child from 2 and beyond probably has the same power as me because every child's menu is the same: chicken tenders, grilled cheese, pasta of some sort (including mac n cheese) and cheese or pepperoni pizza. All of them come with a side of fries.

As a mother who prides herself on feeding her children a variety of healthy foods the children's menu frustrates me to no end. In Nashville, we eat out so infrequently that an occasional grilled cheese for dinner isn't a big deal but on vacation when the majority of meals are out a mild annoyance turns into a major dilemma.

The talking heads of the world banter about endlessly about why our children are obese. They really only need to look as far as the children's menu that contains absolutely nothing healthy.

So what is a mother to do? I either have to purchase them a high priced adult meal and leave 80% on the plate (a huge waste) or try to find something on the menu that we both agree on and inevitably I leave the restaurant hungry. Our third option is to bargain with the waitress. "Hey, can you do a child size salmon?" This generally leads to a blank stare and a "Uh, I will have to check on that?"

Am I alone in my frustration??? Does the rest of the world only feed their children fried crap for dinner? Seriously, the general population must feed their kids more than chicken fingers every night? How hard is it to offer, fresh, nutritional, tasty offerings in kid sizes? Maybe their is a lack of demand for it - and that is just sad.

As for dinner tonight - we found a wonderful Italian bistro where we shared appetizers of caprese salad, clams in a white wine sauce and dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. A whole hell of a lot better than mac-n-cheese, but perhaps that is just us.

Graceful Courage

Tonight we enjoyed a delicious meal on the outside veranda of OC Whites in downtown St. Augustine. As we ate a man with a guitar began to sing by the front of the restaurant and two lone people got up and began to dance as the sun set over them. What made this such a powerful moment was that both of them had severe MS. They could barely walk much less dance but there they were - dancing in their own way, clearly in love and not caring about the rest of the world.

As I watched them I wondered if I was in the same situation would I have the courage to do what they were doing - to dance in front of a restaurant full of people with my disability on my sleeve? As we finished dinner we sat for a moment by the front of restaurant, listened to the music and watched the couple dance. Before we left, Quinn got up and danced with them and I was struck by how lucky we are for our health and happiness. As we were walking outside, the man stopped us and told us what a good dancer Quinn was. We smiled and thanked him and I wished I could have shared with them how much their dancing touched me but instead I thought it best to let them go back to each other and the music.

Working Hard for the Money

We were playing around yesterday and started pretend calling Daddy at work. Sometimes I would play receptionist at the office (Good Morning, Regents Health Resources, How may I help you?) and sometimes they got to 'talk' to Daddy and sometimes he was on the phone or in a meeting. And then we would switch. At one point Greyson wouldn't let me talk to Daddy because he was in a meeting. I asked "Greyson, what does Daddy do in his meetings?"
"He throws a football with Mr. Brian."

Yup, I think that pretty much sums up what Raif does all day.

Where The Players Play...

Every so often we get an itch to go back to Atlanta. I think it is the combination of missing good friends and good food (the best Mexican and pizza anywhere). So this last weekend we packed up the family and headed South. The ever eternal gluttons-for-punishment Roberts graciously housed us for the weekend. Once again thanks Keith and Susanna and Kinley and Derby!!

We spent Saturday morning at the Georgia Aquarium with the kids discovering whales, sharks, jelly fish, sea otters and manta rays. Saturday night all of our old neighbors came over for a cook-out and the complete destruction of the Roberts play room by all the neighborhood children.

We had lunch on Sunday with the Tucks and got to demolish their play room as well. After a nap it was back in the car to head for home with two exhausted children (not to mention their parents).

As always, we had too many things to do and people to see in such a short weekend. Thanks to everyone who took time out of their weekend plans to squeeze us in. It was so good to see you and we miss you all!

Discovering the Deep Blue Sea