We just got back from a whirlwind trip to Florida and it was fabulous. There is a line in an Alabama Shakes song that says "Where is my home? Where I came from or where I belong?" I kept thinking about this line this weekend. I came from Florida. And even though I have spent most of my life residing outside of the state, I can't deny that it feels like home to me. I think I have a little salt water in my blood. I can't even express the sensation of belonging I feel when I see the palm trees and smell the salt air. I was giddy at the prospect of sharing Florida with my boys. Or course, we were only on the beach about 10 minutes before Henry stripped down naked and started running around screaming about the sand in his butt. I am holding out for a better beach experience next year. He did, however, enjoy hours and hours in my sister's pool. It was so nice to be home. I loved being around my family. I miss them so much. But, when faced with the question in the Alabama Shakes song, I think I belong in Tennessee. Can you have two homes? I think so. And as my boys grow, I know they are going to love the salty, sandy "second" home filled with countless hours of time spent with family.
As if my trip wasn't amazing enough, I also got to check off an item on my "In my 31st year" list (which I added to the side bar because I am a super nerd). I ran on the beach. And, it was awesome. It was a little hard. Running against the wind sucked and running in a straight line got a little old too. But, mostly it was wonderful. It did totally capture the sense of freedom I was looking for. I only managed a 5k before the sand and humidity got to me.
Here are some highlights from our trip. We had a mexican fiesta for my sister's birthday (which was the reason for our visit) Hence all of the sombreros.
These were all taken via instgram. You can follow me @jaimebarks.
As for traveling with small kids? Oh it was exactly what we expected. Long and crazy. On the way down we spilt up the drive into two days. That wasn't so bad. On the way home, we did it all in one day. It was LONG. Very long. I am thinking that we might need to look into flying next time. Can't wait until we can soak up some more Florida sunshine.
PS. You can't have a road trip without music! So what did we listen too? My currant obsession is Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros newest album "Here." We got it when it released and we kind of skimmed over it. It has just been in the last few weeks that I have really had time to soak it in. Throughout the album, there is an under currant of faith and spirtiaulity. The lyrics just seem to resonate with me. It is a little more serious and mellow than their first album. We also enjoyed The Lumaniers, Of Monster and Men, Alabama Shakes and some old school Ryan Adams. When we were in the mood to party we rocked out a little Walk the Moon. Which, is one of my newer favorite albums. As I was heading out to a run Jason, put them on suffle and instructed me to listen to them and I did. They are a really fun dance music and excellent to run to. Oh we also have dance parties to Henry's favorite bands Matt and Kim and Neon Trees. We also took in a fair amount of NPR and listened to the audio version of "Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile."
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