Like Christmas morning....

I was thinking yesterday that my beach day tradition with my kids will be like Christmas morning for me....such magic found there.....and it was so worth the effort....truth was....yesterday I was exhausted when I woke up.....have chores piled up from a crazy work week......and I had to rally to go, but the excitement was still there, under the fatigue, my deeply knowing that it would be worth it and magic would be found there.....and I was right.....it was as gorgeous there and special as last year......a little more crowded on some parts of the beach than last year.....I am wondering if we went a little later in September now?.....maybe a few more weeks past Labor Day?......doesn't matter the spot we were in was just us.......still the quiet and peace and beauty I had found there last year.......the water still warm enough......darker blue and the sky, just all of it:)....and presences is a present for sure.....to remain present in the beauty of a day and not the stress......if I had stayed home I would have cleaned and done laundry, which I will be doing today anyway, and preparing for the week.....and I would have missed out on an amazing day with my children, making beautiful memories.......we stopped at Wendys, and for ice cream and Mads said it was the best day ever:) .....so I am finding the balance between both these days.....opting for adventure as much as I can, and letting other stuff wait......it will always still be there when I return from the adventure....and it is worth it.....I was also thinking of the importance of the kids and I making new traditions now in our new life......I had read early on that that was important.....and I agree.....I am thinking of other ways to make new and special things for us to do beyond hiking, and maybe adding some new holiday traditions......and truthfully it would have been fun to do in my old life too......we had done lots of traditions for the kids but not much that were new.......we also did apple picking last year for the first time, I am normally a pumpkin patch gal;-) but now I feel like let's do both every year! In addition to feeling really awake now in my life, and feeling motivated, and wanting to seize it all, and enjoy each day to the fullest, I also feel so relieved that Covid has settled some and shifted so we can roam about freely......so it feels sorta like making up for all of it......Mads has missed out on Santa and so much for a couple of years......and Gabe with his friends and the things he wants to do......so now it feels like I want to do it all and make up for that time.....not feeling like it is lost time.......it was precious time......that I formed such a deeper bond with my kids.....walking all those miles during Covid to prepare for the eventual fallout and our world being turned upside down, alongside the world being turned upside down.....so we got to spend all that precious and quiet time together doing simple things.....crafting a hiking habit to avoid the crowds.....a habit that will stay with us always.....and now doing some of those other things that we have missed so! Adventures and traditions await!