Mom like a hurricane...

Per tradition, we headed to the water for Momma's Day, we just went a little further than usual. 

Cindy and I had toyed with the idea of heading to Galveston and on Saturday Ryan sent me a text, "Want to go the beach tomorrow?" SIGN US UP! We then hit the grocery store (again) and Sam's to load up on some essentials, got out the beach towels, found all the sunscreen, dusted off the beach chairs, and loaded up the car so we could leave early on Sunday. This guy may manage to annoy the heck of out of me... but he also just supports the heck out of all of my crazy whims. He really does make my dreams come true.

We spent the day exploring... 

building castles... 

flying a fierce kite... 

and hanging out with the ones we love. 

The kids were going CRAZY over all the creatures they found in the seaweed. 

Top right going clockwise:

Sargassum shrimp, sargassum fish, sargassum crab, sargassum slug all found in some sargassum seaweed. 

Here's a little slideshow from the Smithsonian if you want to learn more. 

Luckily none of these tiny creatures were harmful because the kids were playing with them and holding them and learning all sorts of things from Uncle Josh/the coolest science teacher around. Unfortunately, there were other creatures that were harmful hiding in those weeds and Caroline, Radley, Millicent and Landry became the victim of some jellyfish stings. Check out those welts on poor Lands. 

After the initial shock and tears, she handled it like a champ. 

Radley really really really really wanted to take this guy home. 

Instead, we let them keep the buddies they came with. 

Every year on this day we "get away" from the hustle and bustle and "stress" of it all. And I'm still not sure what "it all" really is. I am certain that I bring some of those feelings on myself and I'm challenged to get away more often. And maybe that doesn't always mean driving two hours to the nearest ocean (although that is awesome)... maybe it's leaving my phone in the car, putting my computer away, turning the camera off and just watching them. 

Motherhood is kind of like a day at the beach... in the middle of hurricane season with a side of tsunami. 

The gale force winds blow in disguised as homework, soccer, dance, PTO meetings and pretending to know what friend they are talking about. You get swept off your feet when they confide that they were made fun of at school or that one of their lifelong friends has been acting like a bully. You want to throw on a life jacket and make sure that they stay afloat, but at some point they have to buckle their own clips, stand firm, and take shelter

But then there are actual days at the beach, like when they do something for the first time and you know for certain what pride looks like. When one of them falls in step with you and grabs your hand. Or maybe when they just say, "I love you, Mommy" for no other reason than that they do. 

God's beauty runs deep in the love we are given as Moms. I'm grateful for the ones that call me Momma, the one that made me a Momma, and those that Mom (and Dad) right along with me in the trenches of the hurricane every single day. 

Never in a million years would I have predicted this life. But I wouldn't trade one messy moment of it for anything in the world. Including the mom-suit.

Happy Momma's Day, everyone!