Florida

We went in search of spring this last week since it refuses to come to Minnesota.  After rescheduling our usual winter vacation so Axel could be a cast member in Charlotte's Web, I finally took that trip south, this time without Jahred but with plenty of "boy" in tow.  Highlights and challenges were both present with my brilliant little Axel and my firecracker Oliver.  Here are our "Florida Final Four" moments.

4.  Sports (Can you believe I'm saying that?) - Axel had a chance to swing both a bat and a club.  There's hope for his athletic-self yet (however Bocce Ball is still more his speed).
3.  Pools!  No surprise here.  Axel loves to swim and made lots of goggle-eyed friends.
2.  Stroller rides.  Oliver was a different kid in his stroller last week.  Whether if was grandpa behind the wheel or the warm Florida breeze blowing through his mullet I can't be sure.  He was happy.  Nice to see.
1.  The BEACH.  You only get to put your toes in the ocean for the FIRST TIME once in your life.  After that you're officially a child of the world.  For me this was Oliver's baptism – when as a parent I realize that the world is so much greater than even my most fantastic children.  That the power of the earth matches pound for power my love.  Nobody knows what happens when we leave this place but when you spend time at the sea you can be sure that we always have been and always will be made from microscopic bits of carbon and lots of water – the same water that washes away the shores and gives life to our fields. 
We and the sea are but one chemical equation...configured differently...or are we?