I have decided to find myself a home in the mountains, somewhere high up where one learns to live peacefully in the cold and silence. It’s said that in such a place certain revelations may be discovered. That what the spirit reaches for may be eventually felt, if not exactly understood. Slowly, no doubt. I’m not talking about a vacation.
Of course at the same time I mean to stay exactly where I am.
Are you following me?
–Mary Oliver in A Thousand Mornings
after a wonderful trip to florida with ramona and my mother (three generations of spunky olson women!) followed by a babymoon getaway to texas hill country with jp, it is time to hunker down, settle in, nest, and prepare myself mentally and emotionally for the arrival of little bug. i’m thankful i got to jet away for a little bit before life plants me firmly at home, where i ought to be. and where i want to continue cultivating as a sanctuary of peace, serenity, intention, and calm.
the diapers and burp rags are washed and folded. i’ve gone through all of ramona’s baby clothes, from 0-12 months, laundered and put them away in a new spot for baby #2. my birth kit is stocked and ready to go. i have been taking my vitamins, watching what i eat, drinking tons of water, constantly sipping on red raspberry leave and nettle tonic, and snuggling ramona whenever she will let me. home feels good and right. we are ready to meet this little girl.
time with ramona is precious. it’s important to me her and i keep connecting as much as we can since things will be changing so soon. i make eye contact with her, dance w her, hold her when she needs, take our sweet old time with tucking into bed and nap time, sing her a million songs, and always say yes to one more book. man, she sure is my little lady.
we accept any good vibes and prayers sent our way as we enter into this next stage of family. love to all of you.
this above photo is from when we finally arrived in denver on our way home from florida. ramona, who has been potty trained for the good part of a year, decided to empty her bladder in her plane seat while i was reading her a book. just like that. soaking her pants and dress on the first of our TWO legs home. and of course i didn’t have any extra clothes bc, well, she never has any accidents. never say never, right? luckily, i had one stray diaper, which was intended for our second leg where i was hoping she would take a snooze (she does wear diapers for bed time). i asked her why she did that. “because i do that,” she said matter-of-factly. i couldn’t have put it more succinctly myself, miss minka. the pilot on our second flight offered her a t-shirt from his suitcase (god bless southwest airlines) which she wore for about 10 seconds. she just loved being able to be mostly naked out and about. silly girl. this is one for the books.
i’m very glad the weather is starting to stay on the warmer side in denver. it’s been chilly! and looking at these photos makes me miss the warm sun and the cool water of holmes beach. oh, and having nothing to do all day except play w our cute babies, drink mexican beer, and read library books. that was awesome too.
the sailfish beach resort (most commonly known as simply, the sailfish) on anna maria island in florida, has been in my mother’s family since her parents bought it in the 1970s. i’ve been going there at least once a year since i was born. it’s changed through the years –the width of the beach, the color of the building, the throw pillows on the couch– but it still always seems the same. the freshness of the air, the softness of the sand, the crisp water, the warm sun. jp and i took ramona and some of our favorite friends there this last week of april. what a glorious and much-needed break it was.
we spent our mornings on the empty beach, drinking our coffee while watching the little ones run around. by 11:00, when the heat started to get serious, we’d explore the island (there’s a free trolley!), grab lunch, siesta. by late afternoon we were out back in the waves, building sand castles, reading books while lounging on beach chairs, taking turns watching the babes so each person had a chance to go exploring on the rented paddle boards. paradise, really.
it’s a simple little four-plex that is rented out during the year. the amenities are everything you need: king bed, sleeper couch, full bath, kitchen w all major appliances, and a cozy front living room that opens up to the patio that looks directly onto the gulf of mexico. there’s lots of great restaurants on the island, but this place is also two blocks from a publix so we did most of our cooking and eating at home. perhaps consider it next time you’re looking for an easy family vacation!
forgive all the baby bum photos: we were having too much fun in the sand and water to take many. these are from our last morning there. thank you, overcast sky, for waiting until our last day to show up. i’ll be snagging some from our friends to show off later 😉
welcome
