the consequences of family videos

I must say that I have an extraordinary husband.

Aside from that...I felt a lot of things come full circle this week. My daughter is very much into watching old family videos (DVDs) of me as a child. She knows so much about me. Both kids have seen me run races, boogie board, go on vacations, act in roadshows (I use the term "act" loosely), etc. They recognize when I should be utterly embarrassed (which I am) on video.

This week they got to do many of those things themselves. We flew to visit my parents while Spencer worked his tail off at Disney World (really, he did!). On the first day, my dad took the kids boogie-boarding. The next day we did it all again. I loved seeing Tyler roll around, get buried by waves, and then exclaim, "I saved myself!" My dad even spoiled them and let them buy candy at the store near the beach. And Tyler had his first Snickers bar ever. If he's like me, his life will never be the same again.



We got to pay a visit to the Dodger game on Mormon night, which I did on several occasions as a child. However, this time we all got spoiled and had box suite (yes! our own room!) with free dinner (wow, "dinner" is such an understatement) included. As my mom so simply put it, "I can never watch a game like a regular person again!"



One of the things I hated most as a child was having to go running. I ran lots of 5k's and 10k's as a kid, and my parents have saved all our old racing numbers. One morning we took the kids (per their request) over to the track, pinned numbers on their shirts, and let them loose. Emma liked it about as much as I did 20 years ago (love that girl!) but Tyler really enjoyed himself. In fact, my favorite part was watching him sprint, with a grin on his face, past all the sloooowww middle-aged women. No, I take that back. My favorite part was watching the faces of those he was passing - being passed up by a little 3-almost-4-year old! Awesome. He ran a mile and a quarter. Emma had to be bribed to run a mile. I ran a lap and couldn't be bribed to go further (I was on vacation after all!). [love that lady's face]


Next on the "tradition" list was Newport Beach. It was just fantastic to be there this week. The beach is gorgeous, the jetties supply endless treasure-hunting fun, and I guess it's fun to ride the merry go round and ferris wheel (though I sorta wanted to puke). We even visited the shell shop where I used to love to spend my money. I let the kids spend a few dollars each. That's one tradition I want to remember better--Newport Beach--and the beach house tradition is one I'd love to keep up with my kids...if we can ever afford it.


Moral of the story: Let your kids watch your family videos, and then do it all over again...with them. It would have been icing on the cake if Spencer could have been here. He was helping put on a global intern training for his firm...and playing with Mickey and Donald. Like I said, he's pretty great to let us have so much fun without him. We are so lucky.

And me...I'm trying to carefully stack all the little details in my memory; things like Emma developing a love (obsession?) for Uncrustables, like the charming and thought-provoking book I read this week (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society) that really makes me want to be a writer, like how my kids exclaimed they were "on top of the world!" not only on the airplane but also on the ferris wheel, like Tyler getting to blow out a candle on a piece of cake a couple different times, just for the heck of it, like how my dad came to the beach on his lunch breaks so my mom and I could get a break and he could take over in the water with the kids, and like how Spencer's phone calls were few and far between but were still extra special, especially when the kids got to talk. I know just how much absence makes the heart grow fonder and can't wait to see him at the airport.