so i work pretty flexible hours so that i can try to be with my children as much as possible…tonight i really needed to get some work done with my favorite graphic designer jennifer cepeda (who, by the way, i knew was also a fine artist, and had seen just a few of her pieces, but when i went to her site to create the link to her name…i was like…what? oh my heck…she is super talented!!!  i so love her work, i totally got lost looking at it…then remembered i wanted to post the cutest thing…but you should check her out.   my favorite is…hmmm…are untiled 1, untitled 2, and a quiet treasure.)  so, i was trying to get the kids to bed quicker than usual so that i could get to work.  normally it is a very long ritual of reading stories and singing bedtime songs.

i put sweet ireland down…( i just love to squeeze her and breath her in…she is so cute!), then i told reagan, i need to go to work…you can read books on your own tonight and said goodnight.  i totally assumed she would fall asleep.  then i told her that i would come check on her and read to her if she was still up…

well…i should have know better given that reagan is a total spit fire!

almost 2 hours later, i go down the hall, open the door to her room (expecting to see her snuggled in her covers, fast asleep, with open books all around her), but instead i found this:

for real…it doesn’t get much sweeter than that, she gave me the cutest little wave and said she had been waiting for me…wow…it is stuff like that…you know when you laugh-cry…laugh because it is so dang cute, cry because your heart is so full.

we read  a bunch of books, she kissed my cheek, and she is resting now…i will be soon too…goodnight!

a last minute decision, a long car ride, a cheap hotel, sandy feet,  a dog…two kids…my man…and me in one twin bed….and oh….the ocean!  truly amazing!

honestly, this is the best vacation i have ever had.  of course anywhere, anything, anytime on the ocean is great to me, for that matter, anywhere, anything, anytime, with my sweet family is great too…honestly…this was truly magnificent!

even with…

car sick, throwing up children, a totally tight squeeze in the car, a 65 pound dog(who thinks he’s a puppy still) on my lap, mcdonalds garbage everywhere, on our way to a super cheap hotel, that had two rooms but everyone slept together in one bed…slept? actually our kids were just to excited to sleep until about day 5 (we left on day 7)…in a very small town with only 1 grocery store and one family restaurant…no room service, with the only internet access in the public library which was in an old house, me in the middle of a big business deal, not enough clothes packed because we left in a hurry, a laundry mat that closed early…this was the best time ever!  it kind of felt like one of those painfully funny family comedies i love.

but ahhhh….

we played in the pool, we ran on the beach, we buried ourselves in the sand, we went to the cheese factory, we discovered the local parks, we whale watched, we went for walks, we stayed up late, we woke up early, we ate lots of food, we jumped in the ocean, we jumped on the bed, we turned our cell phones off, we took naps, we laughed, we cried, we tickled, we hugged, we kissed, we loved…we….be’d.  we be’d together. we were, simply put…together.

…and it was just what  we needed!