Hay Happens and Hay's Happen

The night went smooth and no fire drills, or talking in our sleep, or snoring (I think?). I hear at 7am – Doug are you up yet? Yes. …and we quickly got started on our day. First, we had oatmeal and banana slices before we left for school.

We discover drips of orange Popsicle on the kitchen floor. Tot to the rescue!

We are off to school for the morning. I’m trying to figure out which is bigger – Tot or the backpack?

After school, we went to Subway for lunch. We also had in mind to get another Cars 3 watch!

The Subway attendant could see that Tatum was into the kid toys and brought over a couple of extras that they had. What a nice gesture!   THANK YOU!

Our final adventure was to visit the Odyssey Sea Aquarium. First we visited the Paddlefish – the fish that has a paddle looking nose!

Yeah, you kinda look like a paddlefish!

A penguin seems very curious about Tatum? The Toucan not so much.

SHARKS! Now that’s pretty cool we thought…

 

We had a Musicology class to hit on our way home and that would end our adventures. There was a point in the day where I thought we lost Baby 1. So, for about 3 minutes I started to panic. I mean, I would probably be forgiven for a trip to urgent care but if I lost Baby 1 on my watch I’d be forever toast! Phew, we found him pretty quickly. Unfortunately, no so lucky for my wallet. I must have lost it when we were loading up in the parking lot to leave the aquarium. Forget about the money, cards, license, I also lost all of the pics of my Steph, Tot, and Austin. Well, I can get new ones. Otherwise, Doug and Tot’s Excellent Adventures were a super great success!!! We can’t wait for Steph’s next trip – seriously!

 

As everyone knows, Tatum loves to sing.

She usually does it with an audience in mind, engaging the “crowd.”

Sing with me…..Clap everyone….Sing it up, church..!

This is now coupled with a new excitement brewing in Tatum’s head. She is learning to sound out words and finding individual letters’ purpose in reading!

How? Mama is teaching her phonics from her Recipes in Reading book when she used to teach.

Tatum is reading these sentences now.

It’s so exciting to see her get excited about it too. When we read everyday, I see her put her phonics into practice as I stop and have her read the words (that she can).

I’m so grateful to Mama for helping her. This daily ritual is a great way for them to bond too. They have been at it for a few months, and within a year, she will be reading at a third grade level.

Sometimes, it’s out of our reach: Our GOAL

That thing we MUST HAVE NOW is going to require a bit of work to get.

You just can’t jump high enough to reach it!

Or the GOAL becomes harder to get and requires a bit more creativity.

Take heart, my Tot. If you set your mind to that GOAL, get a little creative, and pray pray pray, it just might be attainable.

Don’t ever give up, sweet girl.

Dearest Tatum,

This morning, you told me you wanted a locket to wear with my picture in it. I love this idea for many reasons. Mainly, it warmed my heart. Every day, every single day, we get closer in our bond. It’s made me appreciate the value of TIME and given me perspective on how much we have grown in just 4 ½ short years. Just imagine how much more we have to grow together!

This can be equated to how God works so slowly, but in HIS perfect time.

Think about the last problem that was in our life.

It was monumental at the moment, but looking back, we can see how it made us stronger, closer, better. It also isn’t a problem or issue any longer. Doesn’t this make you value the challenges even more? It also makes me value the PROCESS of growing together. It’s one day at a time, setbacks and all.

It was said the prosperity is a terrible teacher. Well, Tatum, this doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy our blessings. This merely means that the time we grow and become better people and more appreciative of our blessings is in the hard times. You will have struggles. Being a follower of Jesus will not inoculate you from this. It WILL give you someone to go through the struggle with, giving you hope of a brighter future and a closer bond to your Father. It also will grow your character and into the woman God made you to be. We cannot be used quite as effectively until He does a mighty work in us.

So embrace your life! It will be a beautiful story; a rich story of good, bad, beautiful and sometimes hard. But, you will always always always have me as your biggest fan as I’ll be in your virtual locket wherever you go, as you’ll be in mine; you also have a family and friends who adore you; The best part? You have the TRINITY: a Father (ABBA/Daddy)> as Jesus (friend) and Holy Spirit (guide and counselor) with you ALWAYS.

I love you with my whole heart, love bug. You’ll always be in my virtual locket and I in yours.

This final day (after Day 1 and Day 2), we decided to hit the park first before the beach. We were hoping to break up the day a bit, and a walk to the park was a great way to enjoy Coronado. Walking along the street and seeing the cosmopolitan of people, doggies, and stores was just the ticket.

We hit the breakfast bar and enjoyed seeing the foliage once again.

Birds of paradise! SEE?

Finally, we headed down, with this nice sunny day, and started to dig.

We made a nice pool, and Doug reinforced it to keep it in tact. The sand does something to Tatum. It’s like a magnet for her! The water is that way for me. I think a wetsuit is in my future. Playing frisbee and trying to throw the football  (grr) was the next best option. Doug has the arm!

As you can tell, we were all pooped by the lack of pictures! My sweetie does such a great job, and today, we just laid low. Nice, seriously.

A bit of a CARS puzzle to end the day.

 

The drive home was glorious.

All in all, what a great trip. The promise of coming back in September kept us all excited.

I’m so grateful to my sweetie for all his hard work making it easy for all of us. Tatum, you were so much fun! Doug, I love you and your kind heart.

See you in September, Coronado!

 

Day 1 now over;

It was a clear morning as we headed down to hunt for shells.

Because:

Stopping first at the Del to take some pics

The beauty and timelessness of the DEL. Doug always gives us so much appreciation for the foliage! I learn so much from him.

So pretty. Birds even are amazed

And then….

as we were down hunting, the fog rolled in

The Del started to disappear. We found each other, thankfully.

Looking for sand dollars, we learned to NOT PICK UP THE PURPLE ones as we were scolded by a 3rd grade teacher. They are still alive; you must save them.

We also came upon this amazing sand sculpture dedicated to some US Navymen who died in battle. Exquisite.

Finally, we headed back and found a grassy place to stretch. Tatum joined in. When in need, stretch, I say.

 

Now, it was time for a little brekkie and coffee since the stretch did not do much.

Now we are officially ready to beach it! But first, a phone call. HI MAMA!

Doug got us allllllll ready!

Go DOUGIE! (as Tot would say). He got us all set up.

Even Tot got a chair.  Doug, thank you for the Froggie!

The fog kept us pretty cold on Monday, so we did what we could.

Tatum definitely had it right playing in the sand. The water was too frigid to swim, so we played A LOT of frisbee and enjoyed hanging out and people watching. Tatum greeted everyone around us and made all feel welcome. Doug braved the frigid waves, and I did NOT. Sad face.

Same as the prior evening, we brushed, read, winded down, and got ready for day 3. We were exhausted! I think the best part was eating dinner outside and playing games (who am I, charades), all of us.

 

With the record breaking temperatures in Phoenix, dreams of sand toys, and bonding time needed, Doug, Tot and I headed back to Coronado.

Tatum prepared some of her travel bag. These little beanies needed a home in colorful bags.

Ok, now I just need to make sure she has enough goodies to keep her going during the 6-7 hour car drive. Between Doug, mama, and me, I think we have plenty. (two whole bags full of surprises!)

Doug showed up on Sunday morning, car-full of everything for our trip.

Seriously, he is so good at being prepared! Tatum and I just had to pack our suits, snacks, and toys. Did I mention toys?

We stopped in Gila Bend for the needed caffeine break. Gila Bend is known for heat, drive throughs, and the Space Age lodge. You want to blast off when you are in Gila Bend, you see.

Off to find the nearest Subway en route since they have something green to eat and their food can please all of us. The bonus Cars watch doesn’t hurt either.

Doug, when are we going to be there? 

Soon, sweetie. Soon. 

Glorietta Bay!!!! Halleluia! Cool weather! They have American flags all over the place too. Pretty nice.

Quick stretch, unload, then head out to the water for a looksie.

Tatum, now we are not getting wet, OK?

OK.

Then, it happened. She couldn’t resist laying in the wet sand. So, guess who had to carry her back to the hotel since she was cold? Yep. ME!  Doug. Sorry honey.

That night, we played JACKS. Well, Tatum version of jacks was more like bowling. Go with it.

We then read some books, put her to bed, chatted and readied ourself for an early morning shell-hunting. Day 2 here we come!