Loose

When I was younger, I was always the kid who didn't want to splash in puddles or run through the stream because I didn't want to get my clothes wet.

I was the kid who didn't want to duck my head under the water at the pool in my friend's back yard, because I didn't want to have to go home with hair full of chlorine.

I was the kid who wouldn't sit on the log, for fear of it breaking... even though it was still almost as strong as when it fell to the forest's floor, and wasn't likely to break anytime soon.

It's only been in the last year, really, that I've loosened up. I was the first one to jump in the stream at the ocean, running through the water after a pair of golden retrievers. I agreed to dunk my head in the pool. I willfully participated in a water balloon fight-- heck, I was the one to fill up half those water balloons!

It's funny, really. I never realized before that if you just loosen up, you can have a lot more fun. Sure, you always have keep some caution about you, but is it really going to kill you to have to drive home with your head dripping with over-chlorinated water? To have to run home, laughing and soaking wet, after a water balloon fight?

No.

Sometimes, you just gotta jump right in with the fun.

The Dandy Lioness

Twenty-Four Hours

If you ever wonder what family is about,

let me sit down and tell you a story.

It's about 

twenty-four hours

spent at the beach

with your family.

It's about

running up a tiny set of stairs

holding a two year old's hand

and then going down a slide in front of him

to catch first his truck

and then him

as they zip down the slide.

And then doing it twenty more times.

It's about his mom saying

"You really don't have to do this," again and again

and shaking your head and saying "We're having fun."

It's about going on a bike ride

with a six year old

and watching strangers throw back the too-small crabs

and having her coach you on how to ride a bike

even though "I've ridden a bike before." has been said

three times already.

It's about sitting down in camping chairs with an eight year old

holding a library's copy of a Magic Tree House book

and reading the whole thing aloud to him

in just one sitting.

It's about chasing that two year old down the beach

and holding his shoes when he drops them

and holding that six year old's hand

as you jump the waves with her

and hunting for sea glass

with the eight year old.

It's about cartwheels in the sand

and talks about books late into the night

while sitting by a fire.

If you ever wonder what family is about,

it's about doing what is not asked of you

just because you want to.

{Sorry for the not-so-great quality. I accidentally left my camera at home, and only had my phone.}

The Dandy Lioness