last week was very challenging for our family on many counts. not tragic, or painful... but certainly challenging. the wife worked for six days straight, there continues to be administrative "drama" at the preschool, i am hard at work on a project at the day job, and we found out that two people dear to us were hospitalized.
we just really needed a day off. out and away from our perpetually cluttered home, from kitchen duty, laundry duty, and guilt over how much tv our children are actually watching so we can gain composure/ catch up on chores/ have a moment to reflect/ you get the idea.
and saturdays have been just that these days. our one day a week boycott from our nest.
i go to a knitting class on finishing at this adorable local yarn store where the temptation to buy yarn almost always wins, i'm afraid. but the people i've met are nice and our teacher is helpful and very reassuring. it helps to know where i'm at with this new skill i've become obsessed with.
after knit class, i typically meet up with my little family and we run errands and then go wherever our feet happen to take us.
and our feet usually take us to granville island. because we love it there.
this time, we parked ourselves near the kids' play area. but then i saw this cluster of cherry blossoms raining petals. i suddenly remembered something i threw out to the universe years ago, before children, happening upon just these very trees with children dancing beneath the flower heavy bows. i remembered wishing (quite hard) for the day i would dance with my children under the same trees.
okay, i didn't dance. but i took a ton of pictures.
and i did chase the boy around for a bit. he agreed. it was magical.
which meant that the girl had to take a little tour, too. her visit was short as she was mostly concerned about keeping her balance and grabbing onto my leg.
and then we saw a herd(?) of turtles.
and then we walked to the beach.
where the girl played tag with the tide for a little while.
and the boy did his favourite thing.
it was a very full day but a reprieve all the same.
i am so grateful for so many things.
including the fact that the day also came with a rendez-vous with a cousin, whose company we not only thoroughly enjoy but who also cheerfully played with our children - and pushed the stroller on the way home, so the wife and i could take a few minutes to hold hands and reconnect.
when i lived in toronto, fall was my favourite season. but in vancouver, spring has become my new favourite. the days are longer, the earth wakes up to the warmth of the season earlier, nature's first green lingers gold for a little longer than a blink, and i find myself with hope in my skin and in my heart.
i am sending happy thoughts and prayers to my mother in law, who is undergoing a procedure very soon. i hope she is as pain-free as possible as she awaits the procedure, that the procedure is successful, that she has a strong and productive recovery, and that she knows that we are thinking about her.
i hope you all have a lovely week.
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