I’ve been quiet here. We spent a week on the Cape with my parents and sister. We rented a house with space enough for all of us (3 bathrooms & an outdoor shower!) and were close enough to the beach that the hauling of gear was not so strenuous as to dissuade us from beaching it up. Another year of swim lessons meant that the girls were confident and strong in the water. We brought our tech things, but filled our time with sand and waves and the kinds of things that make everything else seem low tech and artificial. It was, in a word, perfect.
I need to work through some of what happened, the gentle, but discernible shift in our soon-to-be-4th grader, the way Finley is clinging to her baby of the family status, while also taking a huge leap away from us, and Ave, stripping back the angst of middle childom and unveiling a piercing beauty and vulnerability that drive me to tears and a desire to swat at anyone who comes too close.
The next week and a half will reveal more, for now, snippets of an unforgettable week.
I am knee deep in laundry, still finding endless amounts of sand, fluttering down from every little thing and remarkable still peppering each bite I take—a small price to pay for a stretch of time that seems to put the hand of my beginning and the hand of my future together, fingers intertwined in such a way that it feels as if somehow, somewhere, they’ll always be together.
Good night, summer vacation, good night.
Beautiful people, all.
Thank you, sweet friend!
Beautiful, Amanda. As always.
Thanks, Shannon!
Just beautiful. The photos as well as your perfect words.
Thank you. It was simply wonderful from beginning to end. Feel so lucky.
Oh, this makes me cry. Magic light, magic pictures, magic family. xoxo
So, so magic.
I so love the family photo on the beach.
With so few words you can really tell what kind of trip you had.
🙂 thanks, Colleen.
You have a beautiful family, Amanda.
May the changes and transitions be easy on everyone.
Love the family photo. I wish we could take one like that. But too much bitterness, too many angry people, too many divorces, and….it would be forced. I’m glad you had a good time.