A Beautiful Day

I've had a tough work week and had a tough night on Thursday with my stomach issues. Friday turned out to be a much needed gift of a beautiful day on several levels.

Really, the beauty of Friday was partially a gift from Thursday. Thursday afternoon we had some incredibly intense storms. I love thunderstorms, particularly here on the plains, but these began to shift from fun to scary for a bit. The wind was just so incredible (some say 80 mph) along with driving rain and quarter-size hail. We lost power about 20 minutes in, but thankfully as with these very powerful storms it was relatively brief. The change in the temperature was great and the moisture much needed so we spent some of our evening surveying our neighborhood damage and enjoying the cooler temperature. More storms followed into Thursday night, but of a more gentle variety and our power came back only an hour or two after it disappeared.

Friday, brought lovely temperatures in a rain-cooled world (now I think temps in the 80s are cool). B and I were able to spend an hour outside in the morning roaming the yard and streets with this yellow truck and his tricycle. He had had breakfast just inside the garage as we watched the big orange OG&E trucks check on various houses. When it started to get hot, we came inside, played a little PBSkids.org and packed things up to go to the gym and have a picnic with Daddy. The gym was wonderful as I got to swim for maybe 40 minutes, which felt absolutely great, and the boys enjoyed their activities as well. We had a quick lunch at OSSM and headed home for a nap. I was pretty tired, but luckily for the first day this week my work was relatively calm and I got to catch up on little things. When B woke up we read books, sang songs and got ready for Daddy.

There was some mention of a park trip once Brent arrived and of course B was immediately hunting for his shoes. We stopped and got a "picnic" on the way. The park was cool (a 20 degree drop in temp to all of 86 is amazing). There were several other families (most involving a pregnant woman, man and child) playing as well. The breeze ruffled the canopy of trees and it felt amazinging cool and comfortable. We ate, watched B play, climbed some rocks (carefully, I promise) and wandered around a cool oasis in the midst of what has been a hot, stressful week. We delighted in B's laugh as he swung higher and higher and marveled that on one of the swings his toes drag the ground. He is such a big boy. B and I discovered this park on Rankin (near UCO) early last fall and the change in his confidence and ability with the playground since then is amazing.

I, and the other mothers, mostly watched as the fathers chased the little ones. I marveled as B walked carefully along a stone ledge with Brent's help, amazed at how far he has come in the last two and a half years. Everything felt comfortable, beautiful and easy. I am so thankful for this moment of calm, cool togetherness and a moment to enjoy the beauty of summer. I hope you all find some peace and joy this weekend. Thanks for sharing in ours.