There was no road trip this summer. There were no toes in the sand at our favorite spot on the coast and leaving with the smell of the sea in our hair. There was no room service or ice cream on the boardwalk or suitcases packed extra full with momentos. There were no taco stands or night time entertainment on the pier. There were no mouse ears or firework shows on Main Street.
Instead there were late nights playing cards and lazy mornings sleeping in. There was Grandma’s house and fort building. There was dancing in the rain and back-to-school shopping. There were homemade ice cream sundaes and poolside lounging.
And there was also a dad who worked hard running a business – preparing for the next season of hiring his first employees, but doing all of the work and manual labor himself in the meantime.
There was a tired mom, soaking in summer memories while growing and juggling her own business and preparing for Baby #5.
There were late nights after kids fell asleep and early mornings before they woke up – planning, calculating, stressing and celebrating. There were tears and triumphs and a whole lot of growth. And this is what it looks like sometimes building dreams. The nitty gritty, dirt under your fingernails, grinding the grind and giving up things in the present for what will come in the future. For that summer that we will be able to run our businesses from our pockets while we chase the open road to that spot on the shoreline. Where we’ll enjoy the sand between our toes and let that smell of the sea in our hair get good and stuck.
It’s around the corner and we can taste it. And while we are on the edge of our seats for the next season, this one will forever be one of our favorites. Stripped down to pure simplicity, finding out what we are truly made of while creating the most beautifully humble memories with this growing brood of ours. And I can’t wait for the day to tell them these stories. Of growth, of falters and triumphs, of the hardest work we’ve ever faced. Of dream building and what a sweet adventure it all really is.
So here’s to humble summers and building dreams…
August 2, 2017