Home.

It's Wednesday at 2 pm and I'm still in my pajamas. I'm sitting on my bed listening to the hum of the air conditioner and the music of Hercules, the afternoon movie the kids agreed on by only a shy majority. Everett and Quinn were on Team Yes, and since they nearly never get along and since Coco was basically a whatever and since Talmage is just so easy even though he was Team No, I turned it on and came back to my bed. Let's be honest, they are all pleased as punch to be watching a mid-week movie so nobody's complaining, and since I can't hear "I can go the distance" without feeling a surge of motivation, I'm not complaining either. Even if I haven't left my house all day. #ironic 

They pulled off the ultimate coup this morning, those four children of mine, in boycotting their mother's adventures for the day in lieu of total and utter nothingness. We have spent so much of our summer with company in town or on grand expeditions that I was thrilled to be back in LA to experience all the sunshiney things this city has to offer before we're back in school. I mean, you guys, I was going to take them to the Orange County Fair today. And let them ride the rides to boot! But I woke up to all four of them calling me to a "family meeting on the couch" so that we could discuss all the things we were NOT going to do today. First on the list: anything that involved getting dressed or leaving our premises. They wanted to build legos and play with trains, bake treats and listen to music. Coco wanted a princess in hand all day and the other three had plans of adventuring in some imaginary dragon/superhero kingdom. It's a rare day that my kids beg to stay home, especially my adventuresome blondes, so I gave them the victory and we're having a lazy day. They are in heaven and it makes me so happy to see them loving on our space. These are good walls that surround our family, and even though I go just a bit stir-crazy when left inside too long I am proud of and grateful for this home and the peace it offers us. It's now been three years since we've lived in our cottage and it still makes my heart skip a beat. I really, really love this place.

I probably love it just a little less at 2 pm on Wednesday when I'm still in pajamas and have no hope of going anywhere, but that's just me.

Speaking of staying home and going the distance and whatnot, we are just four days home from an epic National Park Adventure that covered nine states, seven parks and logged exactly 3,333 miles driven together in my magical minivan. When planning this trip I worried that we had packed too much into our two week itinerary. Was a two-week road trip too long altogether? Would the children become ambivalent towards National Parks, our Odyssey, and each other? The real, truthful answer that makes me teary-eyed with gratitude is no. Our trip was perfect, the driving wasn't that bad, and we still loved each other so much that even when we woke up in the hotel on day 15--our last day of vacation--a couple of kids were crying and begging us to extend our stay. We felt so unified because of our time spent together and they weren't the only ones who never wanted it to end, the 8-hour drive back to Los Angeles that day was rather somber for one and all. 

I need to get all my pictures and stories organized and up here for memory sake, but in the meantime here are a few fun snaps from one of the most memorable trips I've ever taken. With so much tragedy in our country as of late and to be honest, so much fear in my mother's heart preparing my babies for another school year, I find myself pouring over these photos again and again, profoundly awe-struck by this beautiful moment in time I was able to share with the people I love the most. The older I get the less I take for granted and the more gratitude I have for the present, for the ordinary, for life.