If I am very quiet I can hear waves crashing. The ocean is less than a mile away.

A flock of starlings dart bravely over our heads, trying to sneak a midday snack.

Laughter. Giggling babies and dust on my feet as my boy runs by throwing twigs into a bucket, calling it Turtle Soup.

Every now and then or as often as we can we stop. Enjoy our time as a family. Camp. We just get outside. There is nothing more peaceful than the sounds of nature and morning snuggles in a tent. This year is the last time we have all the time in the world before our oldest starts Kindergarten. We will soon be ruled the schedule of school…but for now we are as free as the starlings. I am lucky to have a husband with a job that allows time off mid-week, when we can head out on mini adventures as a family of four. I want nothing more than to show my children this gorgeous world we live in. We have a US map in our living room with pins stuck in every place we have been as a family and every day I am dreaming of a new place I can take the two of them to experience something new. I want their lives to be filled with wonder and adventure, even if our adventures are mellow right now with our new baby in tow…

I will always remember these days, with the dirty fingernails of my four year old, the sound of his sweet voice and soft babbles from the baby, the smell of campfire smoke on my husband’s jacket. If I could freeze my life in any given moment it would be when I was with these guys. At home, away, it doesn’t matter. Anywhere I am with them is where I want to be.