Venturing out again

Since K was born last December it has been a long time since I have ventured out with the three kids besides the local parks, malls, and libraries. Especially since we have a yard it’s even harder to get out of the house than before. Before K was born I used to take them to all different kinds of museums, the zoo, water play areas, and other random places.
But yesterday, the morning was off to a bad start with the kids and I decided we really needed an adventure to lift all our spirits. And I was finally feeling like I was ready to take them out again. C was looking at a picture of her and her brother looking at fish that morning and so it was decided that we would head over to the aquarium in San Pedro. After K woke up from her morning nap and I had packed lunch, figured out directions, and everyone peed it was time to head out. It was rainy and cold but we all really needed to get out of the house. Once we were on our way and the kids were listening to their favorite Jay Chou song (yes, our kids are a little fobby thanks to my husband) on repeat everybody was already in a good mood.
For those that know me I am not a big fan of aquariums and just the underwater world in general. I just feel uncomfortable looking at these abnormally large fish and other weird sea creatures and have this slight paranoia that the glass might break (must’ve watched Jaws at too early of an age in my childhood).
But when we got to the aquarium it was probably one of the most fun days all of us have had in a long time. We’ve never been to this one before so the kids were fascinated with everything and it was a very manageable aquarium for all of us. They were loud, they were chatty, we all learned a lot, and they even had a lot of fun eating lunch in the minivan because all the outdoor seating was wet. And to top it off, at the end of our time at the museum we were in an exploratory lab for kids and even though we weren’t supposed to touch any of the creatures the lady was super nice cause there was no one there on a rainy day that she let the kids touch everything and taught the kids so much about everything they saw and touched.
The kids were happy, I was happy that the kids were happy, and on the ride home the kids fell asleep and I got some peace and quiet too.
I know my time is short to do things like these with all three because J will be starting kindergarten next year and be in school everyday. Although it’s been a long time coming I felt proud of myself to finally being up for taking the kids out on new adventures again.

Season of rest

The summer is over and though summer is usually associated with long, lazy days it has not felt like that in this household. The year is flying by but it has been a tiring, busy, and hard year.
My youngest daughter, K, is already 9 months and yet I still feel like I’m adjusting to being a family of five. She is in fact a very easygoing baby so I don’t know why I’m having such a hard time taking care of all 3 kids at home. Maybe it is because they are all so close in age and all still fairly young. Or maybe my expectations of being capable and on top of taking care of all three were too high.
M has also been extremely busy and stressed at work this year. Many nights he doesn’t get home til after the kids are in bed and then hops on a call later on at night at home. Not to mention all the traveling he has done this year. For the last 3-5 years he did almost no traveling and this year he has had to travel every 2-3 months for 2 weeks at a time. I’m sure there are many husbands that work longer hours and travel much more but it has been a big change for me. And the effects have all trickled into our family life.
We also decided to remodel our bathrooms this summer. Admittedly, this is a stress that was self-imposed and I researched and obsessed over every detail. Thankfully it is finally done and I love our new bathrooms.
I’m a little sad that the summer has come and gone and have a slight regret/fear that this is the summer that our kids might remember it as mommy and daddy being tired and busy.
But now that we are entering the last quarter of 2010 and a new school year (although that doesn’t really apply to anyone in our household) I feel like now is the time for us to enter our season of rest. We have recently decided to step down as coaches in our small groups ministry. When people ask us what are our reasons for stepping down we don’t have any super spiritual answer or anything… just that we want to rest. And I feel good about it and no pressure to hurry up and get involved in any new ministries yet.
I hope maybe M and I can focus a little more on our marriage as I feel like when things get busy and stressful in our life the thing that tends to fall in priorities and is hit the hardest is our marriage. When M is not hard at work, or after we have meetings to attend and people to meet up with, not to mention spending time with the kids and having family time… what time is leftover after that before sleep… well, there isn’t too much.
With all the holidays and family right around the corner things will probably pick up and get busy but I’m hoping to be a little more purposeful in finding rest and reconnecting with M again.