Ordinary Spring

Spring.  Spring either lasts about 3 days here in the south or we get a solid 2-ish months.  Thankfully we got that two-ish months this year!  Hooray!  We have been outside constantly and soaking up every minute of these low humidity days.  Since last time we have had Easter and Spring Break and travel and work and parties and projects and school and all the things.  I was just listening to a podcast today about living an "ordinary" life.  I have said this a million times before but for me the 'ordinary' is the extraordinary and to find value and awe in the simplest of things is what makes this one precious/wild/beautiful life extraordinary.  So here we are...living our suburban, family-centered, simple, unique, (extra)ordinary life. 

Sunny days.  Cool nights.  Crisp mornings.  Bliss

Trying my hand at trail running with these beautiful people. 

Easter with family.  Ima and Shesh and Daney and James and the girls came to visit and we enjoyed every second!  Luke loved resurrecting some of his old toys to give them new life with his cousins.

The Egg Hider with the Egg Hunters

A little neighborhood aviation with an Easter basket balsa wood plane.

Flowerpot painting and planting wildflowers 

Spring break for this kid was full of basketball, a trip to the zoo with friends, fishing in new spots, a trip to the mall with his buddies, lunches and dinners out with friends, pool parties, house projects (I would give him one a day to work on while L and I were at work), and sleepovers at our house.  He had a great spring break full of lots of fun and independence!

Luke and James lost a neighborhood basketball game so they had to wear their most ridiculous outfit (approved by the bball winners) out to lunch (A group of 5-9 teenage boys walk to our local Mexican restaurant). Hilarious!  Luke would like it to be known that the other team had three kids on it.  So it was 3 vs. 2. They took their loss like champs and embraced the ridiculousness!  I always smile when I see or hear about all of the experiences and adventures Luke has with his buddies...so many great childhood memories. 

Luke's big Christmas gift this year was tickets to see his very favorite band - AJR.  Finally the concert date arrived and it was my absolute JOY to be with Luke at his first concert!  It was AWESOME!!  The best concert I have ever been to! 

This band (made up of three brothers) is so talented and clever and creative - it was an absolutely amazing show! 

Luke knew every single word to every single song and we just had the BEST time!

Two days after that amazing AJR concert Luke and I headed to Orlando for a Pokemon tournament!  (L was sad to miss but he had his own convention to attend in NC).  Luke is always smiling when he gets to see old friends, meet new people, and play Pokemon. 

 Luke did not do as well as he had hoped but his very best Pokemon pal, Brandon, the one in the middle of this photo did AMAZING!  In fact, Luke and I delayed our trip home by 6 hours so that we could be there to support Brandon and cheer him on as he finished 6th!!! out of 2,200 people in his division!!  It was amazing and we are SO proud of this fantastic guy! 

And lucky for me, the Orlando area is where two of my First Descents/Colorado rock climbing friends live!  So, I reached out to them and they graciously met me for a 3+ hour lunch date where we got to catch up with each other.  It was such a lovely way to spend the afternoon and their friendship matters so very much to me!  

This guy feels like me when the month of May is just around the corner.  I am already exhausted!  May requires a pep talk for each of the Tully family members.  "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can."

This amazing group and I camped for 2 days and ran some trails while we were at it.  We conquered a trail Ragnar and I could not be more proud of the 8 of us!  We did really well and we had a blast.  It is so much easier to do a challenging thing when you have such solidly good and supportive people on your team.  I have so much respect and love for these humans.

And our best guy is finishing out his semester having such a positive impact on so many students; they are better geologists and people because of him.  We are so proud of him! 

We hope your spring has been full of the (extra)ordinary too!