The calendar was empty this weekend. Big empty squares on an otherwise filled month of fun and activities. We've been busy with family and friends the last few weeks. But this weekend it was just the four of us.
And generally when that happens the weekend can go either way. Really good or really bad. Our schedule isn't strict by any means on any given day, but our routine suffers a bit when we have nothing to do. I'm not terribly motivated and would love to spend a day at home relaxing, as I'm sure Lucas would, but the kids just don't go for that. So we struggle with motivation and getting up and going when we have to write our own days. But this weekend...
The days we wrote for ourselves were very good. We connected. The four of us. Through quiet time, naptime snuggles, ice cream and trips to the playground. This morning we went on a hike. And while the kids were a little sluggish... we walked slowly and held hands. We took our favorite trains and a new baseball cap.
We took time to intertwine our lives again. They overlap and cover and sometimes hover over each other. We hold each other up, give strength and lean on each other. We feed of off each others happiness and playfulness and laughter.
It's needed. That quiet family time. We forget. Because we love our extended family, and we love our friends - but when I think about my favorite moments with my family of four, I keep coming back to the ones that are just us.
And it's not always pretty. A certain little girl had one of her first real time outs {not actually on the bench below... though she looked awfully guilty of something there... .} and Fynn was tired all day today and at one point couldn't decide between the playground, the buckets on the porch, or the ice cream place. But we followed their lead and made it work.
It dawned on me today that we don't really do much by ourselves on the weekend when we're at home {other than cleaning now and then and folding laundry} I mean that the kids don't play by themselves while Lucas and I do our own thing. Partly because we don't have the room to be separate unless they're sleeping, but partly because we truly believe in the togetherness of the weekends. Connecting. Reconnecting.
I don't think that's a bad thing. The weekdays are crazy and hectic during the time we're four. Lucas comes home and we rush to have dinner and to play for a bit and then it's bedtime. But the weekends... . it's us. And it's them. And we connect.
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I'm linking up with Maegan's The Sunday Creative. This weeks prompt: Connect