Hello friends! How are you?
I have been enjoying taking a writing break as we ended our summer staycation and are transitioning back into our new school year routines. Change is good.
It has felt both good and strange not to write every day and I have missed this part of my nightly routine, while at the same time have enjoyed the break. The yin and yang of life continues.
What’s shakin’in your world? I hope all the transitions are bringing you some sort of joy.
nAMaste
Seriously? Has it been 65 days already? By counting the days, I’m fully aware of time passing and how long summer vacation actually is. I will be ready for the school year to begin again this week. This was a transition summer for our family, with me working from home, and with the two teenagers starting their first summer jobs as lifeguards and practicing with their sports’ teams. This summer, we stayed closer to home and did more afternoon and day trips around our more complex schedules. The kids slept in while I worked, and we enjoyed our friends and hanging out together during the afternoons.
I realized that we had a “free” day with no commitments today and wanted to do something all together as a family. After much discussion and debate, we decided to visit the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz and packed a picnic lunch to take with us. Have you ever been to the iconic Mystery Spot before?
We enjoyed the mystery of the optical illusions and the feelings of anti-gravity and like we just got off a rollercoaster.
Our tour guide was funny and entertaining and we enjoyed the experience of doing something new together and laughing at the craziness of it all.
The Mystery Spot is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains. After we finished our tour, we left the redwood trees and took our picnic to the beach, where we enjoyed watching the surfers and locals walk by as we ate. It was a gorgeous day to be by the beach. I loved today, and being with my crazy family. I am thankful that we made it happen.
Life is good.
Today I am thankful for these beautiful ladies. Our babies are seniors in high school this year and have been friends forever.
We hosted a summer birthday celebration at the beach today before they all start their last year together. I am thankful that when we moved back from Holland, that these friends were planning their annual birthday celebration and invited us to join them and we’ve been celebrating ever since.
It was a cold day at the beach, but it was fun to be there never the less. When we arrived, the parking attendant shared that there was a shark sighting 100 yards off the shore, so the kids stayed out of the water besides splashing around on the shore. They had fun playing with full sized shovels and digging holes and building ramps. They enjoyed eating chips, fruit, candy and Subway sandwiches, but not necessarily in that order. A day at the beach is always a good day.
Life is good.
Tonight I’m thankful for our camping friends who invited us to come join them for the day. This is glamping, staycation style and I loved it and brought the smell of the campfire home with me. How did I get so lucky?
Thank you friends!! We had a great, windy, cold, fun time with you.
xo
It’s almost August. I think it starts next week. Oh my goodness. It does. That means school starts up again 3 weeks from tomorrow, which seems like a long time but it’s not really! We have residency verification dates and photo dates and school schedule pick up dates and pirate camp and life guarding and driving lessons and homework to still squeeze in before we are done. It feels like summer is almost over and that gives me anxiety! I feel like it just begun and I’m finally getting the hang of it. I’m a little slow at this adapting thing, and once I finally feel comfortable, it’s gonna be time to create a new schedule again and to change again.
Hopefully I’ll be ready, but right now I’m already feeling the end of summer blues.
How do you handle change? Do you flow? Do you get anxiety? Is it no big thing? I am curious.
Here’s to slowing down and enjoying the last few weeks of summer! I plan to go paddle boarding and to get to the beach before it’s over. What will you do with your summer days?
I choose to wake up bright and early every day. I have figured out a work schedule that allows me to get most of my work done while my teens and tween sleep in. Once they wake up and get moving and finish their chores, there is plenty of time for us to enjoy each other and our staycation.
Last night before going to bed, Charlie told me that when he woke up that he was going to make me eggs for breakfast. I loved the excitement of the anticipation that he was going to cook for me. I love the little things in life the most.
He woke up maybe two hours after I had been working already. The first thing he asked was if I was ready for breakfast. He hadn’t forgotten his promise. I love his thoughtfulness and his breakfast hit the spot.
I really appreciated his gesture and I think he was proud of himself. He asked to sit with me for two minutes, and how could I resist?
I think he was also excited for our beach day that we had planned and I love that he wanted to give back. While I worked, the kids got stuff ready to go to the beach and when I clocked out, we were almost ready to go.
We loaded the car and drove over the hill and were set up on the beach for our picnic by 1pm. We enjoyed the warmth of the sun and the cool ocean breeze and didn’t leave until after dinner time. The kids and their friends and the moms all had a good time and didn’t want to leave.
When we finally left, we kept with our new tradition and stopped for ice cream at Marianne’s before heading back over the hill to arrive home again. Who says you can’t have ice cream for dinner and dinner for dessert?
I absolutely loved our fun-filled, long summer day. And now I am ready to rest.
Life is good. How was your Monday?
xo Adriana
It was a beautiful day in Santa Cruz and I thought I’d share some of the beautiful things that caught my eye. Enjoy the beach!
The end.
here i am 