Life's Simple Pleasures

Yet again I am reminded to buy more Mega Millions lottery tickets. Because even though the best things in life are pretty simple - spending time with friends and family being number one on the list - they don't always come free. Or cheap.

There is just no replacement for good friends and family. And since some of ours aren't nearby, we'd need to win some sort of small fortune to be able fly our family of five out to see them as often as we'd like.

Last weekend we returned from our summer vacation and ran smack dab into back-to-school week. So I apologize for being off-line for so long; it's not my preference, but it is a necessity at times. I have had to resist the urge to sit at the computer and chew through several hours, doing things like blogging, so that I can use that precious time to gear our family up for the new school year.

Two weeks ago we started the trip off with the suburbs of Philadelphia where my husband's parents both grew up, and subsequently it's the land of aunts and uncles. And all of them are Italian. Which means we heard rounds of "you're so skinny!" to my husband from all his doting aunts, who to this day probably think all we keep in our kitchen is a bottle of ketchup and hence I am depriving him of home-cooked meals.

So they proceed to try to make up for it all in one night. No kidding. The amount of food that went through the kitchen in one night was astounding. Not to mention the amount of people. Three aunts, an uncle, and multitudes of cousins, second cousins, and friends. And it was all wonderful; the abundance of food and family mixed together to create this amazing sense of security and warmth.

It really struck me on this trip just how important my husband's family is to him. It was a joy to watch them all swoon over him and our kids. Those Italian folks in the Philly area are some really good people.

From there we went out to beautiful Lake Anna in Virginia. We stayed with our good friends who were wonderful hosts to our not-so-small, not-so-quiet, not-so-good-at-sleeping-in brood. They even had a built in babysitter in their oldest son; the sweetest 13 year old kid you ever did see.

Much like last year, we spent time floating around the lake with a variety of water toys. My younger daughter discovered her love of the water and honestly spent more time in a life vest than out of it over the 7 days. She'd just bob to and fro in the water, from this person to that person, and sometimes just around in circles all by herself. I think she loved the independence of it all.

The week's highlight for my oldest was playing with her friend that she reconnected with after a long year apart. They took off from the word "hello" and were never apart for the next 7 days. Her friend even inspired her to conquer her fears and get up on water skis for the first time. She made momma proud!

And our son loved going out on the boat in the middle of the lake and saying "now go swimming?" every time we stopped to change people on the wakeboard, waterskis or water tube. And indeed, we did go swimming out in the middle of the lake, everyone floating around in their life vests. Apparently he needs 40 feet of water to really have fun; he always likes to push things to the limit so I guess it should be no surprise.

Our son also mastered the word "again!" as he insisted my husband throw him up in the air over the water countless times. Unfortunately he also showed us that he has mastered the words "dammit....gah dammit...." as he muttered them right in the spot where daddy would have said them if he had been the one cleaning up a mess. But instead it was my silence that he got (after an exasperated exclamation of his name), so he decided to fill in the blanks for me and dad with the chosen "bad words". Thoughtful little guy doing daddy's work for him.

I don't think I really have to mention just how special this time was to us. We were able to reconnect with family and friends that mean so much to our little family of five. To us, it's the most meaningful and rewarding way we can spend our time.

And though a year has passed since we'd last seen our friends at their house on the lake, it seemed as if it had only been a few weeks. That's the beauty of truly great friendships; they sustain and subsist over years and miles. Even when there are so many miles that the visits become too far and few between over the years.

All in all, you can see how simple our trip was. No amusement rides. No parking lots. No email and no cell phone.

For one week this summer we were once again wire free, screen free, media free and of course, care free.

Life's simple pleasures.