We spent a few days at the beach this past week. Actually, that is perhaps a bit misleading. We did stay at hotels on the beach and overlooking the bay, but we made no actual visits to the beach itself. We came close. We followed a beautiful tree lined steep trail down to the beach only to have the heavens burst open upon us (not with blessings mind you, with rain -- though we're certainly blessed, so I guess it could be that too).Mike and I discovered long ago that (at least with small children) most of our attempts to give them a little fun inevitably end up being about 50% unfun (if not down right miserable). As you can see from the face of one child in these pictures, this trip was no exception. Along with all the fun photos, there are the unphotographed moments of crying over someone taking too much blanket at night, whining to go home, complaining of too much chlorine in the eyes (I know you are all thinking, "Man Mike, you should work on your attitude," but it is mostly from the kids . . . perhaps a little from me). In fact, a few hours into the drive Mike looked at me and said, rather dryly, "Welcom to purgatory . . . otherwise known as family vacation."
With all that said, I should add, that I love these adventures, and in truth, once they are said and done, it is only happy memories that remain. There was an article in this month's Ensign that I loved. It talked about the work that goes into some activities with your kids and how at times the activity itself seems to hardly warrant all of the effort, but then the author talked about how we are making memories, and that is what all the work is for. I liked that. My memories, and definitely the memories my kids have of these types of outings, are so good -- even the bad parts tend to make me smile (later of course).
Here is one of my favorite quotes from conference. It was from M. Russell Ballard in his talk on mothers:
". . . The joy of motherhood comes in moments. There'll be hard times and frustrating times but amid the challenges there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction."
Here are a few of the shining moments of this trip (amid the frustrating times).
12 comments:
Oh, how I enjoyed those pictures! They were so very realistic...especially the sad ones of your little Goldie. I know that face all too well. I loved that Mike should have a better attitude and stop crying and whining so much! I actually loved the pictures of your trip to "the beach"...it took me back to my days in Northern Cali and Oregon. The weather looked the same back then too.
Lovely post. Two thumbs up. I loved the talk on mothers, of course. I don't really seek for validation , but when it's given by one of the apostles it's like "Ohhhh, thank you for appreciating me!"
The best thing about taking a picture of a crying child is that it generally pisses them off and makes them cry even harder! HEHEHE! Evil, evil, evil!
I always tell Ana when the inevitable complaining or whining begins, "Heaven forbid I should FORCE you to have fun! That would be truly awful." Why is that? Why is it so very hard to just have a good bit of fun? I'm sure if just the two of us went on a nice trip, we'd be able to have plenty of good fun.
great post, Nank, and I loved the photos. I read that same article in the Ensign and really loved it and have thought about it a lot. In fact, it just came to mind tonight during family night. After finishing the usual stuff, we decided to play a game with the kids and they were laughing SO hard at everything and J and I were SO tired and wanted them to just play right and quit being so silly so the game could just get over! but i immediately thought about that article and said out loud, kind of joking to J, "I sure hope this is creating a good family night memory for our kids." and that made it easier for us to let them keep on being extremely goofy and us to be happy, too.
thanks for the post ... jas and i feel the same way too, like "seriously? we want to take them where? and put up with the crying and whining?" but you are right. it's worth it in the end, and i know traditions and memories are the way to keep your family together. i asked my mom once, WAY before i even thought about being a mom, how they did she and my dad did it; how they kept us together so well, and why we like each other and still want to be together as adults. :) she told me that you have to do things together. that's the most important thing... so as hard as it may be, i'm bound and determined because i want my boys to always love being together with us, as a family, even when they are grown and gone from my house.
Oh, it's fun to hear from other moms in these blogs. I like all your comments, and yes, Jess, you are right, it makes Goldie so so mad to catch me taking a picture of her crying, but I tried to on many occasions on this trip just because I thought it was funny that she was crying in the car, crying in the hotel, crying outside the hotel, etc. etc.
The face on your little girl was classic, gotta love the pouty face! Addy's already got it down, she started real young with it! I also love your husband's face, it's like he can't even muster up a fake smile, it's more of a little smirk! I have come to find that traveling is certainly more difficult when you have little kiddos, but at the same time more fun to have them there. I too enjoyed the talk on mothers. My favorite thing to hear general authorities talk about is their "sweethearts", quite adorable!
Creating a legacy of tradition of love is really what family life is all about. Way to go. Looked like fun.
Nancy so cool. You made me realize that when we attempt a family outing that it is the good memories we always have. And the bad ones I usually recall being funny later.I love that you do them even when it seems like pergatory...Hee hee. I love you and love those little nieces and nephew of mine. Meg
OK so I had to look over the pictures again because they are so stinkin cute. I love little Goldems face in her blubbering ones! Hah..I love those kids!!!!
Nancy, you're so pretty. I love that you're willing to take a photo of yourself - just inches away - and then publish it on your blog. I don't know that I would - though my freckles are pretty sexy. ;)
It's true about how it is so difficult to go anywhere and have everyone stay happy. Although I think most of forget the crying and store the memory of the more fun times during the trip. Of course the best thing to do is leave the crying ones home :),like we are. We are on our way to Disneyland with out Ashton! Yipee! Liz
love the pictures!!!! It sorta tells a story of your time. Cool
Post a Comment