Cold rain covered us as we walked down to the salty ocean waves.
I felt an overwhelming sense of relief from the stress that had been erupting in my life.
Maybe it was relief from being crammed in the car for a 13-hour trip.
Honestly, it was both. The girls had never been on a trip that long. It was the Friday before the 4th of July and I had sent Brayden a simple text saying “I want to go somewhere us and the girls and just do stuff wherever but here.”
He replied, “Let’s go to the ocean when I get home.”
The next thing I knew, I was looking for a hotel to book and planning what to pack.
We left around 8:30 that night and I was so excited and also definitely nervous.
The girls made me get in the backseat a few times to make them more comfortable.
Being squished between their bulky car seats was not ideal but I loved being such a comfort for them. When they slept then so did I, for the most part.
Brayden drove the entire way and it felt like forever for me, so I can only imagine how it felt for him.
We finally crossed over a huge bridge looking at the water tower painted to look like a beach ball, listening to the girls say “ocean” repeatedly.
I could not wait to get out and show the girls how white the sand was. We finally found a parking spot while it was raining.
The rain was cold but we still got out and walked down to the waves.
The girls were still a bit grumpy from the ride and the rain but we enjoyed the view anyway.
After a while, the rain stopped and I watched the girls cover Brayden with the sand.
As I am watching, I thought about how all the stress I had been feeling was all so minor things compared to the big picture of life.
As I watched each tiny grain of sand fall from the girls’ toys and tiny hands, I thought about how each thing I was stressed over was just as small as those grains of sand but when all of them piled together, they made it feel like a lot of weight.
They were having so much fun and seeing their happiness brings me the most joy.
I quickly forgot about the long drive and all the stress that was at home. We played in the sand as much as possible those couple of days.
The girls were very sad to be leaving the ocean and so was I but I promise I will never forget that random unplanned vacation.