Movies and the Beach, Oh My!

Remember how your mother always told you if you didn't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all? That's how I feel about last weekend. It wasn't all horrible, but it certainly wasn't sunshine and rainbows either. Lots of screaming and crying. And that was just the grown ups! It seemed like no one was happy and none of us could get along.

So we took a different approach this weekend. Jeff and Natalia ran errands on Tuesday and Thursday so that we would actually (gasp!) have time for fun on the weekend. I normally enjoy shopping, and running errands in general, but Natalia has sucked all of the fun out of that, so I wasn't too sad to turn those duties over.

On Friday night, I took Ree to see Brave which was playing at the movie theater on campus. She's been to the movies a few times before - with Jeff, with my mom, and with a friend, but I had never been to a movie with her, so that was exciting for me. And being that it was about a mom and daughter, it was a perfect movie for us. Plus it was nice and dark in there, so it wasn't quite so obvious that I am a complete wuss and cry at everything. Adding to the fun, the movie was sponsored jointly by a film club and a Scottish heritage society. Consequently, we were greeted with live music performed by a bagpipe player, and there was a contest for best Scottish brogue before the movie. We both enjoyed the festivities.

On Saturday morning, we went to the beach. And we had a good time.

So serene...

Until a wave tried to attack him!

Meanwhile everyone else played in the sand.

It turns out boogie boards make great boats for the preschool set.

Michael requested a picture of his feet.

And his footprints. In the dry sand.

I left the beach feeling more relaxed that I've felt in a long time. In months. In my deliriously content state, I suggested we stop for Mexican food on the way home. We hadn't gone out to eat since Ree's birthday in August, and it seemed like a good time to splurge. Unfortunately, I think Natalia had other ideas. She was, well, I am going to refer back to the first paragraph and stop there. I will say at least the food was good.