and baby makes 6!

Sea green

You might have seen this one before. Would you like to be sitting there? I think if you stare at it long enough, it might come true.

This image reminds me of why we moved here. The sun, the sand, the gorgeous colors, and returning to our beachy roots. It sure is easy to forget that in the midst of school activities, illness and other gunky life stuff.

We went to the boat this weekend, and while sitting in the cockpit having a Modelo with lime, kids playing somewhere in the marina, we talked about what Billy and I have dubbed “meatloaf”….the everyday life stuff that makes you forget about all the blessings and how cool life is. I was sitting there, in this amazing setting, on our freaking BOAT for crying out loud, talking to him about my dreams of sailing away, and he said “Listen to you. Here we are, sitting in a sailboat, smack dab in the middle of this amazing place, sharing a beer in gorgeous weather and you are not present in the moment. Look around you!!!” My head snapped up and in that moment I realized my problem. Billy was right….I don’t live in the moment. I am constantly scheming and dreaming when life starts to even remotely get too routine.

So, in complete and utter mutiny to the “meatloaf” in our life, I am instituting Operation Perpetual Vacation. OPV, not to be confused with the vaccine, has begun and to hell with TAKS tests, the flu, coughing, groundings, fights, bickering, PMS, the ennnnnndless pick-up lines at school, and sleepless nights. I am reclaiming our family weekends from the endless spend-the-nights and from here to there kid shuffle. Sleep-overs will be confined to Friday nights, but not every weekend. Family comes first.

To rekindle that new-love-spark I have always had with the ocean, I am again driving down the beach front on the way back from school drop off, and my camera has joined me again as my constant companion. I adore taking pictures, and not just for the paper (loving it still and having a blast with the assignments), but everyday life had me leaving it at home most days. To hell with that.

We did not move here for meatloaf. We did not change our lives for the better, just to find ourselves living the same life with an ocean for a backdrop.

Back on the boat, Billy and I sat there and watched the kids run in and out of the marina store buying candy. He pointed out a seagull stalking a pelican for fresh leftovers for over an hour. Liveaboards stopped by and chatted with us from the finger pier extending along our boat. Our life is magical here. Dreaming is good, as long as you don’t lose yourself in the future. There is plenty of time for future plans, but today will be over at sundown.

I am seeing things in pale blues and bright greens again…….not in the grays and washed out colors of winter storms.

Meatloaf can be delicious if you know how to spice it up.

Like father……

The water is warm finally. What does this mean to me? Well, it means I ventured into the water and surfed this past weekend. Really surfed. I held my place in the lineup, and was able to charge like my old pre-baby birthing self. I think I even yelled “Mine” a few times. Oh man, it felt so good.

Bill might have even given me a fist bump over a Mexican feast that evening at our favorite post beach restaurant.

Cory mouthed the word “Cool” and smiled, which says much, as he usually has very little to say.

I wonder what my kids think about having parents like us? We surf, talk to them, laugh with them, cry with them and discipline them here and there when they need it. I can’t imagine having parents that would actually get in the ocean, let alone paddle out on a surf board. I wonder if they think we are weird? I know we are weird, but maybe we have them fooled.

The above pic is one I am printing. It will hang on the left of our entertainment system. On the right is an identical one of his father.

Just keepin’ it in the family, folks.

Robert August, dude!

On Friday, our family had the absolute pleasure of meeting one of the surf communities true legends, Robert August.

When he was 18, Robert August and his friend Mike Hynson were documented in the filmThe Endless Summer produced by Bruce Brown, as they circled the globe following summer and finding surf that had never been ridden before.

Meeting him was a pleasure, as he is just such a nice person. He is a vacation local here, and spent the late morning talking with us,

and Mia enjoyed playing with his daughter.

He signed Cory’s cap, and a shirt for me. We were going surfing after the visit and had our boards in the truck so I was all “You HAVE to ask him to sign your board, Bill! How cool would that be??”, but Bill kept waving me off. I finally bullied him into allowing Robert to sign his board. Bill now has a Robert August surfboard, signed by Robert August himself. Too cool.

Thank you Robert for your hospitality and kindness. We might just take you up on Costa Rica this summer.

Shell seek

This image is one of my favorite images. We had just rowed back “home” to the boat from a morning of shell seeking, and Mia was taking stock of her treasures.

The sun was so hot, the shells were so white, and the water was so refreshing and lovely.

This is the memory that my kids will have of their summers……their lives, for that matter. Days spent sailing and shell seeking on an isolated island, surfing, the warm tropical sun, the love of God and proud parents who not only love them, but each other as well. It is everything I wanted as a child, and I am grateful my kids have it.

The rest is simply gravy.

Fantabulous

Isn’t she flippin’ adorable? I know, right? She is much sweeter than that cake, and she is now a big 5 year old. Whoosh!!!!! it went by fast.

We are all fine here, just really busy with everything. Birthday parties, MRSA infections, sprained ankles, robberies next door (we are fine, just shaken up…will post about it later), installing alarm systems, hormonal teen, hormonal Mom, travel, blah, blah, blah!

Something interesting happened while life was going on…..I sort of gave up the computer. Not because someone told me to, or influenced me. I just sort of stopped logging in. And I liked it. Instead of being glued to a laptop on and off during the day, I am cooking, cleaning, organizing, hitting the beach, going for coffee with my friends, shopping, and LISTENING to my kids. What a novel idea! I noticed that my patience level has risen exponentially in relation to my time spent offline. I have also noticed that I got out of my shell and have starting engaging with the people in my town.

I do get online still, but mostly via my iTouch. I read my e-mail, check my Google Reader, and I am done. It takes me about 30-45 minutes and that is it…..which leaves me hours and hours and hours of time to be a good wife, mom and friend. It is so very fine.

No, no, I am not shutting the blog down. No way. I like blogging too much. Just putting it in its proper place in my reordered priorities. Posts to come will include the MRSA story, how my neighbor got robbed while she and I were out for coffee, cool pillows, and how I know that yogurt does not bounce well. ;*)

In the meantime, log off. You are not missing anything folks. It is like All My Children……….you can stop watching it for 10 years, and when you finally tune in to it, Erica Kane will not have aged a bit and will still be raising hell.