Joy

Undeniable, uncontainable J-O-Y. That is how we were all feeling today at the splash pad. The good Lord knows how badly I needed something like this today. I have been feeling burnt out and completely out of ideas. Not to mention, summer is ending in 4 short weeks! I want to take advantage of it.

Lately, it has either been too hot or too rainy to enjoy being outside. So today, we loaded up 3 kids, lunch, snacks, drinks, swimsuits, towels, AND the puppy. (you read that right - we have added a puppy to the madness! More on that later) We visited Josh at work and headed to the splash pad. Cold water is not really my thing, so it was perfect timing with Merit running around on his own. We had so much fun!

OK, OK, I just watched. I don't know the last time I had so much fun watching someone else have fun! I took TONS of pictures because I just didn't want to stop - I wanted to capture every bit of sheer excitement and cold-water screams that I possibly could.

I felt like an idiot sitting there with this huge grin on my face. My cheeks hurt. It was bliss. I needed it.

I have been talking about letting go of my lists and my agenda, but I have not truly let go. When I get out of the house, I let it all go. For real. Sometimes there are bad attitudes and potty accidents and lots of frustrations. Today was a blessing. A gift. A joy.

*Note: I don't mean to monopolize the photoes with Merit, but I want to get explicit permission from JW and LM's parents before posting any recognizable photos of them. They are in the background though.