We finally went on vacation

The heat dome is making me sweat and the garden take root. The tomatoes are expanding their territory and starting to flower. Hope to collect some San Marzanos in a few weeks time. Our boy hates tomatoes in general but I’m confident he wouldn’t spit out one he helped grow himself. Last week he tasted the first strawberry and his eyes said more.

It’s beautiful when you concoct dreams in your head and they actually manifest. Pre-kid me had this vision of my kids harvesting vegetables for a dinner salad, and that actually happened. Just two weeks ago we were making pasta from scratch. Levi and Emma work as a two-man pasta pit crew – she cuts the dough, hands it to him, he feeds it into the machine, and rolls it out into giant semolina rectangles. It’s an hours-long process that’s easy to do and keeps them when it’s an inferno outside.

After cutting the pasta our two barefoot hippie children waltzed into the garden, picking basil and chives for our sauce. “Aba, this will go well with the zucchini,” they report.

WTF, did I just win at parenting?

Their confidence and landscaping competence is cute AF.

The other perk of the patch is that it motivates them to get the hell out of the house and start the day. Especially when they’re inside past nine a.m. And we have swim class in Pasadena that we pre-paid for. And they’re throwing heavy toys at each other. 

“It’s time for a status check on veggie row. I think the bugs ate everything last night.” 

I will strike fear in their hearts if that gets them to put their damn shoes on. And if it gives us ten minutes to organize the snacks.

In other news, the wife and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary by going to Todos Santos, a town about an hour away from the concrete resorts of Cabo San Lucas. Five nights out there was magic – a total reboot of the nervous system. 

Getting through airports was stupid simple. No car seats, no naps, no snack meltdowns to worry about.  

I read two books. I slept nine hours the first night. We hiked and ate late and learned how to stand up paddle board. I ground-scored some clam shells as gifts for the kids. 

I feel rested and restored and all the other feelings an annoying person would say after a ten-day yoga retreat in Costa Rica. 

And yet – two days back on the homefront and my body feels completely wrecked by night time. Like I went twelve straight rounds with pro MMA fighters. My shoulders and neck are all sorts of twisted. Parenting has its pressure points, and my two toddlers walked all over them yesterday. Note to self: work on your core. But they were happy. And so was I, despite the busyness and back pain. 

Because there’s a sense of renewal that comes with vacation. You go without the comforts of home and realize how much of it you don’t need. Only this time, we actually started unloading our crap instead of just saying we would.

After the kids went down we food prepped and purged toys and packed kids clothes that need to be handed down to cousins. 

Strange how cleaning brings a rush of dopamine, but this is where we are in life. The thrill of retail therapy doesn’t compare to the joy of getting rid of crap. 

It’s the summer - the days and nights are long. Extended hours to rise early and stay up late to do what needs doing. After a restless lull of slow work and somber moods, I am that dad who’s ready to go another round. 

Let’s go.

xo,

Aaron

What I’m Reading - too lazy to link, but these are all solid

• Living Ultra by Rich Roll

• The Tiger by John Vaillant

• Ghost Town Living by Brent Underwood

• The Prime Ministers by Yehuda AvnerI