Walnut Creek

Today was a good day. I woke up feeling a little awful, maybe with a cold or allergies. I asked Andrew at about 7:30 if he would mind taking Rosemary. Then Blanche was up. Then I heard all the normal hustle of the morning routine. Blanche needed to go potty, Rosemary needed her diaper changed, they were hungry... Oh I should get up... but sometimes getting to ignore all those needs even if its just once a week is really nice. I woke up about an hour later to Andrew making strawberry pancakes like he had promised the night before. Well, what actually woke me was both girls yelling about something... probably the pancakes. We tried to eat breakfast as both girls played and fought in small ways. Rosemary kept knocking Blanche's blocks down.

After breakfast Andrew suggested we go to Walnut Creek to hike, and then go to eat Indian food. I really didn't feel like moving, but I knew the girls would drive me nuts inside all day. I knew we needed to get out and have some wild and fresh air. I also knew my dryer was broke and the washer was about to break... and someone was coming today to fix it. I kind of wanted to be out of the way and not have to hear about all the details. So, off we went.

I love Walnut Creek. It's rustic and beautiful. It's the type of place where there's occasional graffiti and there's no real bathroom. But then you get onto the dirt trails and there are mountain bikers everywhere and people walking and letting their dogs run wild and splash in the creek. That's what is kind of fun about this park, bikes flying down the hill into the creek and dogs splashing.

It was fun to let Rosemary walk for a lot of the trail, and to see Blanche confidently run ahead. We went down muddy slopes and let Blanche get her feet wet. Well, her whole bottom half wet really. I kept begging her not to become fully soaked because I didn't pack an extra shirt.

Andrew is always amazing at carrying everybody to the car at the end. Well, I walk but he does carry both girls in carriers at the same time. After that we went to our favorite Indian restaurant and then to REI to buy Andrew his birthday gift of new Tevas after his had broke. We also got Blanche her first pair of Tevas, because I literally spent ten minutes wiping all the sand and dirt off in between her toes. I had to clean and dry each foot to perfection to put her socks and shoes back on after she had played the in the creek. I finally knew it was time she learned about what a water shoe can do to change your life. Or my life really.

Today was a good reminder to just enjoy the simple and beautiful moments. A lot is happening in our life, but it can often feel that way. There is a lot of unknown in my world, but on days like today, even though we still had our fair share of meltdowns, I am reminded that knowing everything and having a great master plan is not the key to happiness. I was just thinking tonight about when our family first moved to Austin. Andrew didn't work for the first two weeks. It was a new and semi stressful time. Andrew was trying to find more work, I was pregnant and trying to get insurance and find a doctor. But every afternoon Andrew and I would put Blanche down for a nap, make coffee, and sit on the couch eating cookies and watching through all the seasons of The Office. It was a simple time where we just got to hang out and relax a little. I know at the time I enjoyed it, but I love the memories of it now even more. We would take our mornings to explore Austin and come home to relax in the afternoons. Sure there were stressful factors, but everything worked out in the end. And the memories I hold now are the happy times we had together. Today was one of those happy times together.