What have we been up to?

Not a whole lot, really. Normal everyday stuff, but in the midst of that there are gems to be found. I am sharing just a few of them with you fine folks.

Washing cars. This was an especially interesting event. Arden and Ian were really getting into cleaning the car. Maybe they were just as tired of having a dirty car as we were.
Taking baths and then basking in the natural summer glow.
Partaking in tea parties. Okay, maybe that is not everyday, but for some it is and Arden has definitely been refined (not exactly, but still fun to see her with something so breakable. Now if only we could teach her the "pinky" thing.)
Baking cupcakes and creating with icing. I can hardly believe that I chose baking over sleeping. That is a rarity.
For my birthday we visited Scheveningen's beach, Den Haag. It was a nice day but a little too chilly and windy for bathing suits and beach towels. We did decide to stop for some gelato. Stefan made friends with Pasquale, the Italian ijs guy. Pasquale, in true Italian fashion, made us feel like family. He adored the kids and even gave them bird feed for the local pigeons. Of course we had to have a photo op. in front of his gelato stand. It was so "lekker" or "buona", whichever language you choose.

And finally, I do realize that I am living in this crazy wonderland of possibilities. There is a lot of history, culture and simply newness all around us. There are upcoming decisions and turns that will be possibly life changing. Exciting, for sure.
Scary, a lot of the time. But, overall there is a great peace that at the days end all will be okay. You guys know what I mean?
Seems like a lot of responsibility to take it all in and enable it to make my family a stronger unit. I hope to not take any of these moments or any other moment of my life for granted. Still there are many days that I catch myself drudging along in a mist, sometimes literally(he, he). It is not always easy to say, "Thank you God for my 'now'". I hope we all can grow into that prayer.