The Cathcart Clan: Most amazing day ever...

Perhaps it was unwise to start my journey as a stay at home mom while living in an area with the most unpredictable and blah-for-half-the-year climate. Maybe I'm not creative enough for days on end indoors and should eliminate any northern states from our list of perspective places to live. Doesn't really matter the cause, but the end result is the same-- winter is hell with two little kids. Everything is more difficult because everyone is stir-crazy. Since the sunshine has consistently hit my face for the last couple of days, I finally realized that these walls were suffocating me. Sure, I love my kids and all, but at some point, you run out of things to do and start acting a little nutty.

Today proved this point, as we had the best day ever. I was lucky to have met a kind woman, who invited us to come along with her group of friends to the beach. I've never been much of a beach goer, and unlike my hyper-social husband, almost dread unfamiliar people, so at first I was going to turn down the invite. Until about .23 seconds later, I remembered that I had been on house arrest, and this could be my entree into society. Lacey and her friends were so welcoming, and it was as if we had been friends for years. It must be because they are military wives.

To be fair, having the sand beneath our toes contributed about 5% to the joy of the day. I was mesmerized by Ashton. He was social, kind, happy, fearless, and a great listener. The entire time he was radiant, including packing up and leaving, which we all know is typically the witching hour of any trip. He was the kid that other parents saw and must have thought, "wow, now that's a cool kid..."

While driving home, with the kids sacked out behind me, I reflected on the past few hours and caught myself smiling. You see, there are days when I wonder what could have been if I would have taken a different path last fall. Sure would have been easier on our poor bank account... But life isn't about stuff. It's all about moments.

After an introduction consisting of 3 words, Ashton and Austin were friends immediately despite the 9 year difference.

Reagan was quick to learn that sand is cool to play with and not cool to eat.

Our humble beach set up. We're spoiled! Incidentally, this was the first time I used the umbrella and about half way through our time I realized I had it set up backwards. No worries; it did the trick!