Memorial Day

The first half of Memorial Day the kids spent marathon napping while Nate worked on a little of that bathroom remodel that got started a year ago and I alternated between reading and watching dramedies on Netflix. That in itself would have made a lovely vacation, but we decided to do what so many natives don't do on Memorial Day; go to the beach!

We're getting better at packing more quickly for an afternoon at the beach. This time it only took us 45 minutes (said with ironic tone of voice) and the only thing that got left behind were Selah's sunglasses.

If she looks red in the picture it's not a sunburn so don't be alarmed. It's just a fever. Yes, we took her to the beach anyway. So, maybe be alarmed. It was worth hearing the extra whines. Nate and I were doing our best dancing monkey impressions and histrionic renditions of "wow, isn't this so fun!" as we built a family sand castle and watched the tide fill our moat. Fever was not impressed.

 Yes, that's Josiah enjoying his favorite activity; eating unknown objects. 

While we were there I began to wonder when fear comes into our lives. Fear. Exploration. Reasoning. Feeling. After a traumatizing ride on the Disneyland Finding Nemo sub and a few visits to watch Shamu, Selah Grace is seriously scared to get in the water. Even her ankles.

Josiah happy screams in response to the crash of the wave break and runs at the receding tide, as if daring it to come farther into his territory. There is no fear.

I hope he always finds so much exuberant joy in life. I hope he continues to run toward the good things and doesn't shrink away from the loud crashes. As a mom it's scary to say I hope he remains fearless. Instead I'll say that I hope he always dreams fearlessly, but in the daily things, a little common sense would be nice.