What a whirlwind last week was!  We were all headed in different directions from Sunday afternoon until this afternoon.  Next week goes in the same direction as we all head in slightly different directions again.  Over the course of the past week and the next few weeks there are approximately three days when all four of us are in the same place at the same time.  Today has been one of those days and we took time to enjoy it.

We got a great hike in and were able to spend time catching up on everything we’ve each been up to over the past week.  Nothing like enjoying the beautiful weather while hiking with family!  Between hiking, eating as a family, playing games, and just talking it’s been a wonderful opportunity for us to all reconnect before we break huddle tomorrow morning and go our separate directions for another week.

Along those lines, I’m going to cut it short and head back to time with them.

Thanks!!!

This is going to be a short one so I can keep enjoying one of the things I’m grateful for today… family fun! My niece Sela had her graduation party today and it’s been great spending time with family and reconnecting. It’s so awesome to spend time talking with family and that’s what I’ll be diving right back into after typing.

Earlier in the day I went for a run and talked Gavin into rollerblading alongside of me. We had a great time talking about many random things while got a great workout in.

After a while I turned on The Nights by Avicii which led Gavin to ask a pretty profound question. Next thing I knew we were having a conversation on the importance of living while we’re alive. This took us down paths including why we travel, why we should appreciate each moment we’re blessed to have, and how can we more truly savor those moments. It was an incredible discussion that I’m hoping will stick with him for quite some time.

I still remember having a similar conversation with Dominic back in the day. It’s one of those moments that I hold deep in my heart as it leaves me feeling like I’ve been able to help impart something that is a core value of mine that they will keep in their life as well. So much fun talking with the boys about life like that!

Back to the family fun! 😁

Thanks!!!

The day started off with many reminders of why I so enjoy being out in nature.

When I was out running / walking with the dogs this morning it was before anyone else was up and moving on the quiet road we usually run on.  The only sounds were those of birds in the wild and the occasional crunching of small mammals in the brush.  At one point I caught myself stopped in the road just listening to the sound of a woodpecker drilling into a somewhat hollow and rotten tree.  I was totally lost in listening to the repetition of its pounding.  It was so peaceful!

Later in the morning as I drove north I kept taking in the scenic views of the natural world around me.  At one point I saw something that I haven’t seen for a very long time…  a skunk running (more bounding and pouncing ) playfully across a field.

Throughout the day my thoughts returned to the memories of enjoying nature in the morning.  There was a calm about me all day long from taking that time to appreciate the wild surrounding me and I’m thankful for it.

Thanks!!!

 

My Grandma Lamping was the BEST!!!  There are so many reasons I am thankful for her that over time I’ll probably cover the tip of the iceberg of her awesomeness.  When Gavin and I were walking from the house to the garage he said something that left me literally laughing out loud…

“Hey Dad, throw me the keys!”

Ever since I can remember I have memories of my Grandma Lamping sharing the story of why we should not throw our keys.  Many of the details are still foggy so if someone else can help jump in and clear them up I’m all ears.  What I remember is hearing about someone once throwing the keys to someone else (I think they were thrown to Grandma?) and the keys then impaled the hand of the person catching them.

As a kid I used to laugh so hard at that story and, of course, I would giggle as I would antagonize Grandma every opportunity I had when keys were nearby and possibly exchanging hands.  Just like clockwork I’d hear, “Michael!” and it would be followed by a re-telling of the story and I’d giggle even louder.

Tonight I did my part to help keep this story living on for future generations… Just like I already have many times with both of the boys.  Each time I can hear her say “Michael” in my ear and I smile even bigger.  It’s one of many awesome little moments in life that remind me of her – and I’m thankful for each of them!

Thanks!!!

When I was a kid my mom would go out of her way to help create memories for us.

A perfect example was the summer night we laid out on the road in front of our house and watched a meteor shower (don’t worry there were exactly zero cars on our country road between the hours of 7pm and 6am).  I’ll forever hold that moment in my heart as a time in which my imagination ran wild, my wonder in science and nature skyrocketed, and the joy in my heart soared for spending time with my mom.

While my mom found ways to help create those moments my dad sometimes just stumbled us into them.  By way of example there’s a specific cold late fall morning when I went trapping with my dad.  We went out on the canoe as the steam slowly rose off the completely still water.  There was no talking, just a perfect silence as we paddled, both of us slowing our paddle strokes to be a part of the stillness around us.

Those are just two examples of so many I have with my parents in nature.  There are so many wonderful memories I have of time with them as a kid and an adult.  They are so precious to me and I’m thankful for each of them.

Tonight I may have stumbled into one of them Gavin somewhat on purpose.  With it being just the two of us tonight I wanted to find a way for us to have a little extra fun so I found that we could rental a pedal boat or a pedal-toon nearby our house.  Gavin and I headed out for what we thought would be a bit of fun for an hour or so.

What we instead found was some incredible father and son time.  At some point we decided to play some music and before we knew it we were singing along to The Strubellas in the middle of the river.  We were singing, shooting the bull, and talking about everything from life to jokes.  It was incredible and perfect for today.  While I don’t know for sure that he’ll remember this moment like I do there’s one thing for sure…  I will remember it forever as one of my favorite times with him.

I’m so thankful singing and pedaling on the river this Gavin today, that was exactly what my heart needed.

Thanks!!!

Earlier today I had a blog brewing in my head.  It was pretty deep, but I think I’m going to table that one for a day or two.  As the night has gone on with I’m pretty sure it’s more appropriate to go in the right direction…  hanging out with Gavin re-living some childhood memories.

After a perfectly healthy meal of homemade nachos and a roller blading trip around the block Gavin and I decided to park it on the couch to watch Major League 2.  A couple of nights ago I fired up Major League for the boys and they enjoyed it so much that Gavin was practically begging to watch the sequel.  Even with my warnings of how much worse the second movie was Gavin really wanted to fire it up.

Expecting a disappointment I figured I’d get some time to chill and possibly fall asleep early.  Imagine my surprise as Gavin and I have been sitting here laughing our butts off watching this old movie.  To be clear, it is terrible, but it’s bringing back so many old memories of when I’d watched this way back in the day.  Sitting here to watch it with Gavin has been awesome – I’m hoping he remembers watching this crappy movie down the road when he can share a few laughs with his boys sometime in the future!

Thanks!!!

Whew, how’s that for a mouthful? 😉

The past 24 hours have been a beautifully balanced mix of family time. Last night we did church, dinner, and an escape room as a family. All four of us spent time relaxing and laughing in what will most likely be the last time were able to do that for approximately two weeks. Becky is heading out of town for work this week and next and Dominic has Scouts. It was great to have time to the four of us to all be together.

This morning Becky and I took the dogs for a walk and had some nice quiet time. The time to the two of us was perfectly uneventful, just the way I like it once in a while.

Dominic and I had time to ourselves on the trip to Scout camp. The drive was pretty chill, just some time for us to talk about his week and Scouts. Nothing crazy, but some great time together with just the two of us.

Gavin and I have already had a lot of time to just the two of us today and we’ve got a lot more where that came from later this week. Between grocery shopping, playing some games, and just chilling we’ve been able to spend time hanging out and singing Strumbellas songs. Pretty much perfect!

After our walk this morning I split off from Becky and the girls and went for a run on my own. With my headphones in and the Strumbellas’ concert list loaded up I pounded out one of the best runs I’ve had in a while. While driving back from dropping off Dominic I blasted the concert playlist again and proceeded to have an incredible car concert all by myself. It was awesome!

As I wrap up the day I can’t help but smile at all of the opportunities I’ve had to spend time with my family, together and separately, today. There’s a magic to having all of us together, a specialness to having one on one time, and chillness to having alone time. Today I had all of the above and I’ll be going to bed with a smile.

Thanks!!!

Real life is pretty cool and while I enjoy it thoroughly there are times when it is nice to hit the Pause button and walk away from reality for a little while. Last night Becky and I did just that.

Over the past couple of months we’ve both been very focused on what we’ve needed to be focused on, Becky on her PhD work and me on my offices, while also striving to be as present as possible in the lives of our boys. Last night we shut down all other facets of life and focused specifically on each other.

We took a nice couple hour drive up to Minneapolis which was kind of a nice “life filter” and gave us a chance to wrap up the last of those work related thoughts. Once we got to our hotel we were officially in full on chill mode and had a great time. Over a couple of delicious pizzas we talked about future vacation plans, past vacations, hanging out with friends, and so no on… pretty much nothing #adulting related.

Then came the highlight of the date night agenda… The Strumbellas concert at the Fine Line Music Cafe. Holy crap was it awesome!!! We realized that this was stage first true concert we’d been to in a very long time. My mind was totally blown from the entire experience. To do justice to it I’ll take the concert in two parts, “The Show,” and “The Sheriff.”

The show itself was AWESOME!!! I’ve been head over heels for The Strumbellas since the first time I heard their song “Spirits.” They are such a beautifully chill and upbeat band and have so many songs that you just can’t help but move to when you listen. The lyrics are mind-blowingly real and hit home for me. In case you’ve missed it I’ve blogged about their music on days 337, 388, 475, & 913. Listening to their albums on a regular rotation has been very enjoyable, but to hear them in person? Wow!

During the entire show I was 100% present in the moment. I was soaking up every second of the show, the sound, the lights, the energy, the crowd, everything. It felt incredible to totally lose my sense of self as I sang and moved along with the music without any care, stress, or worry in the world. To be completely lost in the moment and the music filled my heart with such joy, and to be there enjoying it with Becky made it all the better! Incredible!

So that’s the part about the show itself. The part about the song The Sheriff was the epitome of surreal for me and blew my mind.

One of my favorite songs is “The Sheriff.” It’s fast paced, has some sweet lyrics, and just seemed like an awesome song to play live at a concert. Being the type of person I am I started my own Twitter campaign to request the song be played. To be clear, the campaign never grew beyond a party of one 😉. Every day for almost a week I tweeted a reason why I thought the song would be a great one to play. The first day I got a couple of likes but then there were crickets the rest of the days. Thinking nothing of it I hoped they’d at least gotten a smile out of it. My hope was that they’d play the song. Deep down I thought about what a thrill it would be if they played it and said that it was because someone requested it. Holy crap did I underestimate what would actually happen!

About midway through the show there was a brief pause in the concert and the keyboard player, Dave, spoke up. “Isn’t this the city that someone has been tweeting us about playing a certain song?” The crowd went pretty silent and I couldn’t help but holler “Yes!!!” Next thing I knew he and the rest of band were talking about me tweeting them about playing the song and he totally called me out on it (and explained that they were going to play it anyways)! It was awesome!!!! They fired up the song and I was singing along the entire time.

During the part of the song when the rest of the band sings “I’m not the sheriff, I’m not the sheriff” the lead singer pointed the mic at me and encouraged me to sing louder – it was WILD!!!

Afterwards the joking around continued and Dave asked, “was it everything you’d hoped it would be?”  Without a thought I screamed as loudly as I could, “that was AWESOME!!!” Becky and I have been joking around about it ever since.

After the show we walked back to our hotel and talked the entire way back.  We slept in as late as we wanted this morning (7:15) and then cleaned up and hit the road.  The ride back was more of the awesome date time we’d enjoyed the night before, just relaxing, talking, and singing along to The Strumbellas on the way home.  Even the drive itself was so chill, stopping for breakfast, grabbing, coffee, and in no rush whatsoever.

As we pulled up to the house we hit the Play button and jumped right back into adulting…  but in a very relaxed and laid back way like we can do after pausing to take a deep breath.

I’m so thankful for an incredible date night with Becky, for the concert, and for just pushing the Pause button on reality so Becky and I could just be us.  It was everything I could’ve hoped for.

Thanks!!!

Isn’t it funny how one gift can turn into so many more an how one simple gesture can leave quite an impact over and over again?

After a conversation we had about losing my dad Kelsey (& Adam) brought up this wonderful book.  Within a very short period of time they picked up a copy of it for me as a gift.  And the rest is history, or, maybe more correctly, the rest is the present…

Earlier this morning I caught myself sharing the title of this book with a dear friend.  Right after doing so I realized it’s been a few months since I’ve read it so I quickly re-downloaded it onto my phone and started listening to it again on my drive home.  A smile spread across my face as I both shared the title and started listening to it again.

A few days ago my blog post was focused on one of the lessons I’ve learned from reading it.  Throughout many of my blogs you can probably sense a little bit of it permeating my writing.  On a daily basis there are often a couple fo times in which a line, a story, a lesson, or a thought from this book come to mind.  Sometimes that thought makes me smile as I change my behavior in the right way.  Sometimes it’s after I’ve made a mistake I consider how I might change in the future.  Regardless of why I’m just amazed at how often my brain goes back to it.

Kelsey, holy crap dude!!!  This book has been a gift that has continued to give many times over.  Thank you so much!!!

Thanks!!!