just like every time we arrive at the beach, we rolled the windows down as we passed over the bridge and the comforting smell of salt water filled the car. i caught ben's eye in the rearview mirror as he grinned mischievously and then shoved his open palmed hand out the window as if he were grasping to capture some of this precious air all for his own.
we stopped at the grocery store to stock up on goodies for the weekend which sounds a lot easier than it truly was with two extremely excited and very impatient littles in tow. truth be told, all any of us really wanted to do was sink our toes in the sand as quickly as possible. but first this. several meltdowns and a free cookie or two later we rounded the breakfast aisle. ryan grabbed coffee (lots of it) while benjamin spied cereal ~ cap'n crunch to be exact. "get the peanut butter kind. i used to eat that ALL the time when i was a kid. oh my god, that stuff is amazing!" ryan said. i rolled my eyes and shot him a half smile half "what the hell?" look. "babe, cmon. we are at the beach!" he was right and ben got his damn dessert disguised as cereal.
we headed, windows down again, to the condo....hastily unloaded our things and hurried to the beach to catch the last few glimmers of daylight. this has always been my favorite time of day by the ocean...the light is warm and looks like one of emma's watercolors. the sky seems to blend right into the sand and the world around is completely at peace for a few brief moments. the whys, hows, what ifs and to dos slip away and all you can hear is the waves crashing and tumbling on the shore....and in this particular moment the sound of my littles shrieking with joy as they chased lone seagulls and jumped & danced in the evening waves.
ryan and i stood there, on this same beach we used to sneak kisses on during high school spring break, hand in hand watching them play. and everything was perfect.
the entire weekend looked a lot like this and was full of memories old and new. ryan helped the kids dig a bottomless hole and taught them the art of surf fishing while i sipped on a cocktail and took in the view. note : 5 and 3 year olds don't have the patience for surf fishing and are much more interested in feeding cap'n crunch to annoying seagulls who then swarm and make surf fishing and beachside cocktail hour far less magical and relaxing than anticipated.
emma and i talked about the merits of applying sunscreen to odd places like your scalp. "mommy, that skin holds your brain in. if it wasn't there your brain would fall out and you wouldn't have any more questions!" i think she's on to something. our conversations turned to love at one point and she told me that she was "in love" with me, daddy, ben, deja, henry, bus....and jesus. she's definitely on to something, that one.
we watched the sunrise together this morning and had breakfast on the beach. breakfast turned into biology class as we rescued shored starfish and watched periwinkles dig themselves new homes. note: seagulls eat bacon. sort of wierd.
we wandered down to st. george street and watched a mock cannon fire-off the side of Castillo de San Marcos. we were caught completely off guard when, in the midst of pencil rolling down the hills surrounding the fort, ben dropped trow and started to fire off his own little cannon. he just peed right there in the middle of everything. no biggie, no shame whatsoever. except for his parents. we were pretty ashamed. yet ryan managed to overcome said shame to snap several photos of me floundering to cover up my peeing son and calm down his hysterical sister.
oh man, weekends like this. they are such a blend of old and new to me and i can feel the circle of life so vividly these days. ryan has memories of beach days with his family as a little boy and it fills him up (and me too) sharing these moments with the kids. from surf fishing to cap'n crunch eating...there's something about watching your children do the things you used to do that is just plain special.
and when it comes to what i remember, i remember high school spring breaks ~ driving with the windows down and plotting to meet up with the man who is now my husband. i remember those days like they were almost yesterday ~ and as we spend weekends making new memories like this weekend, i'm certain that i never imagined life would look this simply wonderful. like the sand and the sky, the crazy moments and the sweet ones all blend right together and the result is something beautiful.
