Monday 17 September 2012

An unplanned and expected picture perfect family Sunday


Yesterday was one of those picture perfect family days totally unplanned and unexpected. My husband had been away for the week so our daughter had asked if we could all go for brunch as a family because she was so happy to have us back together again.
We wanted to go somewhere different from where we normally go so my husband suggested Grotto Bay. At first our daughter was a little disappointed because she wanted to go where there was a chocolate fountain. There was a method to her madness after all. Family brunch equated to a chocolate fountain for her. But she acquiesced and was open to going somewhere different.
Our son had been out all day the day before and was exhausted so he didn’t really feel like doing anything but begrudgingly went along with us. The brunch turned out to fantastic not just because of the food but because we were all together. We sat at a table where we got to see a fabulous view of the harbour. The setting outside of our window was magical. Lifting everyone’s mood. Our son coming back alive and to himself once he ate some food. Our daughter in good spirits despite the lack of chocolate fountain. So the conversation flowed easily between us. Happily between us.
Our children asking if it was okay to go outside after they had finished eating then wondering out to sit in two chairs on the lawn in front of the restaurant. Leaving my husband and me to talk on our own. Talking together as adults while watching our children exploring outside. Toasting our family. Our children. Our endurance as a couple. Looking at their heads above the chairs as if they were an old married couple taking in their surroundings. Grateful for their relationship as brother and sister.
And then once we finished brunch we walked along the grounds just chatting. We rediscovered a cave we had not been into for a while. And found 4 friends swimming in the cave looking like something out of a tourism advert for Bermuda. My husband offering to snap a photo of them for their memory books Our daughter dying to swim. Disappointed she had not brought her swim suit.
Our son spotting a large silk spider hanging from a bush eating a bee on our way out. Chatting with a couple from Long Island who have been coming to Bermuda for the last 50 years. Here on vacation with their nine grandchildren. Walking along another path and discovering a pergola overlooking a little man made beach where there was a school of Sergeant Major swimming. A man swimming with his little daughter. Two friends snapping photographs of the picturesque surroundings.  Snapping a photo of us. Everyone in a good and cheery mood.
Then we walked back up the long steps in a different section from where we had come. Marvelling at how rustic everything looked. Our daughter discovering a playground at the top giving my husband and I the opportunity to sit in two chairs overlooking  the harbour. Inhaling and exhaling. Grateful for making the choice to step outside the box and do something different from the norm. Grateful for having a new experience in the place we call home. Taking in all the beauty of our Island home from a fresh and new perspective. Allowing us to realise just how fortunate we are to be surrounded by beauty every single day that we sometimes take for granted.
And then we walked arm in arm as a family away from our unexpected and unplanned experience back to the car and back to home. Marvelling at all that we have to be grateful for on a sunny, picture perfect family Sunday. 

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