Welcome to my life..my family..my world..unedited.

I used to think that flopping on the beach of some (mostly) deserted island in the tropics somewhere, with sky so blue it hurts to look at and sand as soft as cotton, would be my dream vacation. [And it TOTALLY would be, btw!].
It turns out there are other vacations that fall into the dreamy category.
For instance, the one we just got home from (and I can’t stop thinking about going back).
We spent the week of 4th of July at my cousin’s house in New Hampshire. If you’ve never been, it’s absolutely gorgeous – trees, mountains, granite, trees…. anyway, the state is lovely. Even lovelier, however, was her house and neighborhood. Her house is gorgeous – all wood floors and tile and open floor plan. Big enough to give everyone space, small enough to be cozy.
More than that, though, it was the just being together that was so wonderful. I’m not sure I can explain it right, but it felt like home to be there with her and her family.  Her kids and my kids were great together, and  it was so nice to have other adults to talk to regularly!
We spent our days in the lake, on the lake, …

Last week Tonight I was able to cross something off my life list! (for those of you unfamiliar, think ‘bucket list’, but without the underlying dread).
We took the boys to Fenway in Boston to see the Red Sox play (thanks to the fabulous Patrick and his connections!). The stadium looks spectacular for being 99 years old. Beyond that, it was clean, the people were FRIENDLY, the field pristine (though so small in person!), and the Green Monster as big as imagined.
The item I was able to cross off the list {sidebar: I should probably post that one of these days.} was singing Sweet Caroline with the crowd at Fenway. It’s a fairly long-standing tradition in the middle of the 8th inning, and we almost didn’t get a chance to do it because of a rain delay one out from the end of the half-inning! Luckily the boys were able to hang for a while longer so we belted it out with (the slightly smaller) crowd.
The energy at the stadium was great; loud, excited, happy. A fabulous experience…even though the road to get there looked like our kids had built it with GeoTrax tracks and the ride back was dark and sleepy, …

{Cross-posted @ Defying Melanoma}
One of my favorite things of all time – my whole life as long as I can remember – is laying in the sun. Since I was adopted, I’ll never know how much of my melanoma was caused by genetics and how much by that big yellow ball in the sky, not that it really matters.
Today, the boys were outside playing in the little pool next door with the neighbor kids.  We had a tent thing set up to keep the sun to a minimum and keep the adults in the shade.  I, of course, was slathered up with sunscreen and had a hat on.
At one point, I flopped backward on the beach towel I was sitting on and closed my eyes.
I was pretending to be laying in the sun.
How ridiculous is that?
For that brief moment in time, I was fully relaxed, imagining a life before melanoma.
I opened my eyes to the green of the tent instead of the blinding blue of the sky and sun.
I came inside, still pale.
 

We have arrived at the beach. I’m pretty sure the entire afternoon can be summed up in one sentence:
Why did we wait so long to do this?
Sadly, I have no clue. The water of Lake Michigan was a balmy 76 degrees today, and while the clouds are moving in, the air was very comfortable in the low 80s with very little humidity. (sigh…perfection)
Matt and Preston have been to the beach only once before, in New Hampshire, 3 years ago, so this was practically a new experience for them. Matt, as usual, was ready to hop right in; Preston took awhile to warm up to the waves, even with his life vest on. Once he was comfortable though? There was no stopping him! He was screaming with joy, laughing hysterically, getting smacked in the face with waves. It was perfect.
Can’t ask for a better start to a vacation than happy kids.

The boys and I went to the local water park today – it wasn’t too hot and was mostly cloudy, so perfect weather in my eyes. I wanted to do something with them that didn’t involve cleaning or decorating or shopping. We had a very good day together, although it was difficult to get them out of the pool at the end of the day.  After over 5 hours in the water, I was pruned beyond recognition and just wanted to come home. The boys, apparently part fish, could have stayed MUCH longer. (I can’t really say anything, as I generally feel the same way about being in water)
While I was at said water park, I learned and noticed things:

I’m not letting my sons turn into snotty pre-teen/teenagers. The language! The annoyance! (no, I have no clue how to do that, but I did enjoy telling a group of boys that they needed to watch their language today!! #getoffmylawn)
There is no reason to scare the crap out of your young child if they don’t want to get in the water. Yes, I understand it is hot out, and yes, I get that it’s only like 6 inches deep to start, …