Ella: I’m going to go cry in my room.
Beth: Aw, Ella, why are you going to go cry in your room?
Ella: Because I love to go cry in my room.
Prior to the arrival of our second daughter, Beth and I tried to savor our final moments as a family of three. There were those last couple of dates where we enjoyed simple conversation and time to ourselves. We enjoyed doting on Ella, showering her with the attention she craves at two-and-a-half. We were peacefully resigned to the fact that this would all change with Paige’s arrival, so we simply tried to enjoy things as they were while we could. Read More…
Ella and I have been enjoying the rain today. We’ve already been outside twice to stand in the cascade of falling water brought in from the gulf by tropical storm Lee.
As I handed Ella her milk this morning, she said, “There you go sweetheart.” My sentiments exactly. 
Every so often I get the most tantalizing awareness of the life I’m living. Despite my thirty-five plus years, I feel as though I’m experiencing a moment as the me I was twenty-five or so years ago. For example, sometimes I stop and ponder the present life I live with my wife, Beth, and our daughter, Ella, and I think it so strange that a “twelve year-old” like myself should find himself in such circumstances. When will they “find me out” and tell me to pack up and go home because playtime is over?
Mind you, this isn’t a bad or frightening feeling. I’m not saying I feel like an imposter during these moments. Rather, these are times when I’m able to enjoy my present circumstances with the joy and whimsy of a child. What’s more, I know I’m not alone in these thoughts. I’m quite sure that whether or not you’ve ever felt this way, you’re capable of feeling this way given the right outlook.
What I’m describing here is one aspect of what I believe it means to be young at heart. It isn’t about not “acting your age”. Instead it’s about enjoying life’s moments as a gift. I count it as a gift when I’m able to reflect on my present roles and responsibilities with the delight of my younger self pretending to be all grown up. It’s a great stress reliever, and it helps me enter into the experiences of those around me.
These thoughts came to me as our house was winding down this evening. Mommy was brushing Ella’s teeth, and I was getting ready to read Ella a bedtime story. It had been a wonderful Father’s Day. It started with me getting Ella out of bed this morning. As I rubbed her back, she lifted her arm and said, “Hi, Daddy.” Then I brought her into the den, and we snuggled on the couch for a while before Mommy came in from getting dressed. We went to church, and then we drove over to my Father’s church to hear him preach. He exhorted all the fathers that their single most important job was to lead their children to Christ. I could attest to his integrity in saying this as he has done this for me.
Later this evening, I found myself thinking about God as my Dad. It’s such an astounding claim that Christians make: The God who created the Universe is the same God who is our Abba, Daddy, Father (Romans 8:15). Yet, this is what is attested to in the Scriptures. Therefore, considering my adoption as God’s son by virtue of my faith in Christ, in one sense, I’m justified in feeling like a child as I go through life. By virtue of His Holy Spirit, God imparts the vitality of the Christ-life upon His children. He makes all things new, redeeming our lives for His eternal purposes. Despite the fact that our bodies grow old, if we allow Him, His Spirit will infuse our everyday moments with the wonder, awe and even whimsy that comes from being children of the Great, High King.
Yesterday was a wonderful day to get back in the flow of home life. We started the morning at church. I was blessed with the opportunity to teach in our community group and got to lead an active group conversation on God’s role as Creator. When we got home, Ella went down for a nap. I cooked lunch and had some great conversation with Beth (she said the distractions of my cooking made the pacing perfect for processing her thoughts). After Ella’s nap, the three of us headed outside for some yard work. Finally, we finished off the evening with a “dinner” of frozen yogurt at Froyoz and a little grocery shopping.
This past week was a wonderful week of discovery for our little family. Given Beth and my predilection for details and planning, several questions were on our mind as we planned our beach trip. Now we’d like to share our questions and the answers we discovered:
1) Will the pool and ocean be warm enough?
LONG ANSWER: We got serious about our beach trip in late April. We saw that the week of Memorial Day offered accommodations at substantial savings to the following peak summer weeks. The only major question about doing this in Beth’s mind was, “Will the pool and ocean be warm enough?” With thoughts of global warming in mind, I assured her that it would.
My prediction held true. Air temps were in the mid to upper-eighties, and I’d estimate the ocean temp was in the mid to upper seventies. As I’m writing this, I ask Beth if she concurs, and she says, “I don’t know temps, honey. It felt great. Not even a shiver from Ella all week.” In addition, the pool started out warm, and got warmer. By Tuesday, it was warmer than the evening air temperature.
SHORT ANSWER: Yes, they were perfect!
2) How will Ella do during the car ride?
Ella far exceeded our expectations. She was so patient, and she took naps “on command”. I swear I’m not making that up. For example, yesterday we ate lunch at Wendy’s. Afterwards, we started down the interstate, and mommy gave Ella her milk. She finished, and mommy said, “Ella, it’s time to take a nap.”
Ella asked, “Take a nap at home?” and mommy smiled and said, “No, in the car.”
Ella thought about that for a minute. “Paci in the car?” she asked pensively. Mommy nodded, handing back the treasured nap time talisman. Ella stuck it in her mouth and said, “Sing?” Mommy sang her nap time song, and Ella proceeded to take a two hour nap.
3) Will Ella sleep in her playpen?
Yes, Ella loved sleeping in her playpen. With all of her blankies and “pink puppy”, it seemed as though she liked it as much as her regular bed.
4) Will we eat good food?
Yes, we loved dining out at Roastfish and Cornbread, and our dinners in were scrumptious as well.
I was just discussing this one with Beth, and she said it was never a question in her mind. “You know why?” she asked.
“No, why?”
“Because you were going on the trip I knew we would eat yummy food,” she said.
Gee, thanks honey!
5) What will we read?
Beth read Take Four by Karen Kingsbury and I read Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand.
6) How will Ella do in the pool and the ocean?
Fantastic! Her progression throughout the week was fun to behold. Somewhat timid at first, by the end of the week, one of her favorite things to do was sit on the side of the pool, roll in with our help, and swim (with a helping hand) several feet underwater.
7) BONUS: What will we name our new baby?
Paige. We’ve got the middle name too, but we’re still working on the spelling.
Given that we’re getting back to our regular routine, my hunch is this will be the last extended post that I’ll write here for a while. In the meantime, I’ll continue to post pictures and shorter updates; however, I’ll save my longer writing for my personal/business blog.
Yesterday morning I joined the friendly fraternity of fathers packing the family car as we prepared to drive home from the beach. There was Frank from Georgia, grey hair, early sixties, packing his nephews’ and nieces’ things on top of the mini van. Another guy reminded me of Wallace Shawn as Vizzini in The Princess Bride, he seemed sort of creepy. Then there was this other guy who I passed on several trips on the elevator. As we exchanged pleasantries during a trip down, he mentioned his family had been there for five weeks.
This bit of info left me slightly stupefied. How does one vacation for five weeks? While I understand the logistics of it (i.e. you pay your rent and spend a lot of time getting your R&R), I couldn’t summon the mental fortitude to actually do such a thing.
Beth couldn’t imagine it either. We both come from a long line of “one week per vacation” families. We prefer to get our kicks in the sun for seven or so days, and then we’re ready to return to our regular beds and normal lives. Anything longer seems as though it’s a violation of our basic constitutions. In order to do otherwise, I think you’d need to be raised that way. Hearing this story of one epic vacation made us that much ready to get home.
So here’s to being back. We enjoyed making memories at the beach last week, but now we’re equally glad to be back among the friends and family we love.
Today’s “post from the beach” is coming late because we’ve been busy packing a full day into our last day. Among the many fun things we’ve done, we made sure to take one last bike ride after dinner this evening.
We were told that Hilton Head ranks in some top ten list for US biking communities, and it’s easy for us to see why. Everywhere you look there are tree lined bike trails.
On Wednesday, we rented two “cruising bikes” for the remainder of the week. We attached Ella’s Kid Kart to mine, and we’ve taken a bike ride every day since. Last night we biked to dinner at Carraba’s Italian Restaurant, and tonight we took our longest ride of the week as we went over to a secluded golf resort.
The ease of hoping onto our bikes for a ride has fit in perfectly with the pacing of our vacation. Beth and I both agree that Hilton Head is our kind of place. Its quiet beaches, miles of bike trails and family atmosphere have made a great week long home for our little family. We leave tomorrow with sweet memories which will last a lifetime.
Our typical day at the beach starts with breakfast around eight. Then we spend the morning on the beach where Ella has a snack of goldfish. For lunch, we have sandwiches, chicken nuggets and the occasional leftover. It isn’t until dinner time that things get interesting.
Our plan this week has been to cook four dinners and eat out twice. We’ve had chicken fajitas, hamburgers cooked on the stove and more standard fare; however, two meals in particular standout.
Tuesday night was one of our designated evenings to eat out. Not knowing where to go, Beth and I used the Yelp app on my iPhone to find recommended local restaurants.
If you’re not familiar with Yelp, it’s a service which lets users post reviews of businesses. It’s great for finding local restaurants because the reviews are by people like you and me.
Among the restaurants listed, Roastfish and Cornbread seemed most appealing. Better yet, when we used Yelp to create a map, it turned out the restaurant was just a mile or so down the road.
The setting for Roastfish and Cornbread was a sandy lot covered by tall trees. The restaurant was in a large stucco house. We accidentally walked in through the service entrance, but they were nice enough to seat us anyway.
We ordered chicken fingers and waffle fries for Ella, Beth got the fish and shrimp, and I ordered a whole roasted tilapia. Everything we ordered was great. Beth and I thought our fish was seasoned particularly well. Having heard on NPR how good a whole fish can be, I didn’t hesitate to make my order despite the fact that I’d never had fish prepared that way. All in all, Roastfish and Cornbread definitely gets our recommendation should you ever find yourself in Hilton Head.
Beth and I are very familiar with the practice of buying a rotisserie chicken as the foundation of a meal; however, we’d never tried this ourselves. This was our week to try this dinner trick, and we were very pleased with the results.
For last night’s meal, I quartered some golden new potatoes and boiled them on the stove along with some carrots. Then I rubbed some olive oil on the chicken and heated it in the oven at 400 degrees for twenty minutes. After the vegetables finished cooking on the stove, I added some butter, salt and pepper. We completed the meal with a tossed salad.
It was wonderful. The chicken heated up perfect. It was seasoned just right, and the vegetables and salad were a perfect compliment. Beth and I resolved to add rotisserie chicken to our regular meal plans once we get back home.
All in all, we’ve eaten well on this vacation. Our credo has been, “Keep it simple and delicious.” Whether it’s finding a great restaurant just down the road or utilizing a rotisserie chicken, we’ve been able to eat well with no fuss whatsoever.
On Monday, we happened to camp out on the beach next to a father and his little girl. It wasn’t long before the girls allowed us to make quick introductions. The little girl’s name is Claire. She’s five, and her family is down from Maryland for the week.
Yesterday, Claire helped me build a sandcastle for Ella. Afterwards, Beth sat Ella inside, and she played for a while before we granted her wish to tear it down.
Here are some shots from our morning on the beach yesterday (be sure to click on an image to see it full size, and if you’re viewing through email or a feed reader, click through to the post for that functionality):
