I Wish We All Could Be California Girls

We spent the last week in sunny California for a family wedding.  We spent the first four days at a house my husband's family rented.  It is the kind of house you dream of spending time in.  It was 6,000 square feet of luxury and included the most spectacular infinity pool and a hot tub.  

I have always been more of a pool than beach lover.  And let me tell you, I loved this pool.  We spent most of our time in it or lounging around it.  For someone like me who has trouble relaxing, who finds her mind racing most of the day, I struggle with laid back vacations.  I always want to get out and do something new or see something different, but for the first time in a long time, I felt at peace with nothing but a warm pool, cool breeze, and good family around me.  There were moments where I couldn't imagine a life outside of this peaceful respite.  And when we left, I found the only thing better was to spend three days with just Mark and Jane at the Hotel Del Coronado.

It's the kind of vacation you don't want to end.  But, aren't those the best ones?  I always feel solemn at the end of a vacation. It's the same feeling I have on New Years Eve. That feeling that you just aren't ready for things to come to an end.  That these events mark the timeline of our lives and its all just moving so fast. On our next summer vacation, Jane will be one year older, as will we. On this trip, she stills showed signs of being my sweet baby girl.  She still raises her arms at me when she falls in the sand.  She still looks to me for my excited approval when she splashes her tiny feet in the pool.  But, next summer, she'll be a big girl. Knowing that, the end of this trip made me long for the seemingly endless days of summer to slow down just a little.  Just so I can watch her play in the sand with the naive bliss of a toddler who finds it infinitely amusing to watch it spill through her tiny little hands.