Boonies in the Boonies: Better Days.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Better Days.

A family friend once told Aaron and me that there are hard marriages and bad marriages; that if you're not working hard at it, it's probably bad. I'd say that's usually pretty true.
I think the same can be said for a lot of parenting days; it's either hard or it's bad. There are lots of warm, fuzzy good days, but in this season there are lots of hard days too. There are so, so many hours of the day when I want to be selfish. I want to do my own thing. I want to sit down. And there is almost always at least one little face needing me to do something. And if I fight it and get annoyed and frustrated and all "mad mommy" then it gets bad and sad and just turns into an all-around poopy day. So ... In short: It's hard. It's. So. Hard. Even though it's my dream job, it's hard. Did I mention it's hard?
But, mixed in the hard days, there are good, good days. The stars align, the sun shines and I want to break out into the chorus of "What a Wonderful World." And lo and behold, today was one of those days.
I slept in ... Til an ungodly hour that I won't even document. But, my husband is a saint and provided me with QUITE a leisurely morning. I had coffee outside in the 75ish air having a long phone date with one of my besties from back home. And then something grand happened: we packed the kids up for a pool day. In Arkansas we live at the pool. Live. Our days looked the same most days: wake up, pack lunches, throw on swimsuits, head to the pool, come home, take lonnngggg naps, eat dinner, take baths, bedtime, REPEAT. Oh, the life. But, in PA they don't really have outdoor pools. I can't get over it. I loathe it. So today we drove about 30 minutes to Mt. Pisgah State Park where they had a public outdoor pool. It was nice. And cold. Because it's spring fed. Brrrr. The kids didn't seem to mind, and Aaron was super fabulous about getting in with them while I smiled and took pics from the side. Supermom.

Love that stinker.

And this one.

Cutie Pie, Trip.

Swim coaching.

The park had a great playground.

Even a sand volley-ball court we played on ... Embarrassingly enough.

Love this girl.

After this is started raining, so we changed clothes, grabbed some ice cream and went home for naps. It would have been a great day if it ended right there. But, it didn't.

Tonight I went with a friend to a really cool Yoga place. I loveeee Yoga and I've done it in several different venues, but this one was my all time fav. It was in this old historic building that I was a wee bit concerned about. We were walking up this crickety old stair case to the studio and I was halfway expecting to end up in someone's apartment filled with incense, chia pets, and ferrets.
However, I was more than happy to find a serene little space with candles and old beautiful hardwood floors, Jack Johnson music and a quirky little instructor that I totally loved. It was just what my body and soul needed. I totally intend to make it part of my week.
Because I'm a creeper, I snapped a couple pics:

Just a couple snaps. Invasive? Oh well, I won't do it again. Scouts honor.

I came home to eat with the fam and go on our nightly walk ... One of my fav things about our time in Pennsylvania.