August’s Grand Opening

I have this little shakedown routine at night, where dishes get tossed in the dishwasher, counters and tables wiped, the random toy car and coloring books picked up of the floor as my little guy fiercely stacks a few cups, random bottles and lids that he’s pulled out of “their” cupboard and big sister stretches her independent wings and soars through the bed-time routine by herself… brushing her teeth, gargling, washing her face, pajamas on… the whole deal. It’s like a pseudo detox from the day, a way to quickly purge our house from the days activities, to remember funny conversations as I wipe sticky fingerprints of the dinning room table, to let the memories sink their way in nice and deep and to set the stage for a fresh start in the morning.

Kind of like this space here. Sometimes words and emotions find a good harmony and string together into pretty melodies… and other times? Other times I’m cleaning up from the day, remembering the messy and the beautiful, laughing at the fiascos and smiling at the sweet moments… and it all just kind of comes out and lands here. A purging of sorts.

So here is a little bit of a mental detox, a post, stream of consciousness style.

There are days that go as planned, happy little check marks finding their way alongside too many items on a neatly penned list, the house gets cleaner as we make out way through, instead of messier, and shrieks heard from the other room are the result of playful laughter instead of big sister grabbing her favorite plastic horse out of the hands of her brother… who exclaims “Osee!” at the sight of a horse and will hold onto it ALL DAY LONG.

And then there are days that by 10am you’ve cleaned up the contents of a box of cereal off of the living room floor, almond milk off of the kitchen floor and a glass full of water off of the living room rug. On those days? I stop trying to work. I decide that those happy little check marks can wait for another day, pack up the kids… and a lunch, and go somewhere. Someplace where my floor is safe from spills, where there is too much to see and do that the importance of a pint sized plastic pony becomes nil, where the sun shines and frowns turn upward.

Today, that place was the beach. The beach after a quick stop at Walmart for a new swim suit for Aliyah since hers have all seemed to disappear, and as it turns out, our minimal choices were between a blue faux denim bikini and a one-peice covered in a rainbow of peace signs… we went with the faux denim. The beach after a drive through a near-by Starbucks for my free rewards drink of choice, in this case a grande soy no-water chai, and a juice box and chocolate milk to pass to the back seat. The beach after another pit stop at daddy’s office for hugs, a potty break and a place for big sister to don her new suit.

We finally made it. Blue skies and cotton clouds welcomed us.

So after a quick inhalation of half of our packed picnic lunch, shovels soon found there way into soft sand while blue pails were filled with water and poured into kid-made pools.

I breathed in the humid Michigan air, splashed in the sun-warmed water and watched as my girl swam fearlessly and made friends quickly. I dug my feet into brown sugar sand, scooped out a trench in tandem with my littlest and pointed out boats speeding by. “Where’d boat go?” He’d ask in broken toddler talk as soon as they were of sight.

But my mind was having trouble being fully present.   Or maybe it was being too present, if there were such a thing.

I just kept taking in the tree lined coast that surrounds this little body of water, knowing it would soon be traded for an unending horizon in an ocean that seems to mirrors the sky. I’d breathe in the occasional lake breeze, and though not my favorite part of a lake beach visit, I knew that breathing in a breeze would soon take on the crisp salty nature of ocean air. I’d watch the families, the people of our small town, and wonder what the stories and personalities and family dynamics of our new town would hold.

Today marked the first day of August. Another new start, another fresh month.

If I could give it a name, I’d say it was the Grand Opening. A perfect kickoff to the month in which we choose our new home… the place we’ll continue to raise our family, in a new state.

So though it may have started with an uneventful plan and a few spills, we ended opening day nothing short of spectacular. Carrying happy, sand clad babies to the car. Coming home to a fabulous dinner by Chris. Soaping and sudsing sleepy bodies before tucking into bed.

A good end to a good day.