Buttercups in Bloom

Today as my family and I prepared to leave on our summer vacation (vaca as we like to call it) there was an excitement in the air.  We could not wait to get on the road and head towards our destination. This year our family vacation is filled with adventure and amusement as we spend the next several days at Kings Island. Kings Island is a mere 5 hours north of our home and normally a breeze to travel to.  Today the journey was a bit different.  There were several points along our way in which we encountered traffic from work being done on the pavement.  We found ourselves crawling along not being able to cover very many miles.  I tried to distract myself my reading a new book but I found I was merely getting irritated at the delay.  I wanted to cover more ground, I wanted to move faster; I wanted to get to our destination. I do not know why I was in such a hurry; there was nothing on our agenda but getting to our hotel.   We always carry maps (yes, old fashion paper maps that you ha

Last night as the sun fell behind the horizon Emma was ready to catch lighting bugs.  I found a mason jar and of course punched holes in the top.  It was truly a delight to watching her run through the yard.  She was dressed in her night gown, flip flops and a sock monkey hat (yes, a sock monkey hat that we purchased earlier in the day and she fell in love with it. Even as I write this on Saturday morning she is sitting with her new favorite hat on her head).  The sight of her running through the yard after the fire flies made my heart sing. Catching fire files isn't as easy as I remember but all at once we both began laughing at the sight of the two of us running through the yard.  Laughing at one another, laughing at the lighting bugs that seem to be out smarting us and simply laughing because we were enjoying the simplicity of the night.  In the midst of our fast paced, scheduled filled world how often do we really sit back and enjoy the simplicity that surrounds us?  How o