One word for today: whirlwind.

In just 11.5 hours, we made the trip to Milford to see Ben’s parents (and grandparents) to wish my MIL a happy birthday (Eileen’s may have been included) and have family photos taken with the D.Welsch family at Doane’s campus in Crete; return trip included in that time frame.

To say that our little family of six was a bit wiped by the time we pulled back into Hastings would be a bit of an understatement [RL from the minute we left Crete: ARE WE THERE YET?!?!?! (with as much angst and anxiety as her little self could muster for each ask, which was an impressive lot].

But just now, as I nursed the baby to sleep, my heart felt so content and so full after the day’s adventure, in part because of what it was like to be back on my college campus after darn near 12 years and to be able to look at it with the eyes and life I have today.

I realize that most of you reading this blog are not young 20-somethings (although a couple of you might – might – be), but here is what I find myself wanting to say to all college-aged folks these days when I see them seeing me and my family and my life: just you wait. 34 is going to be here in the freaking blink of an eye and you won’t even know how you got here, but every now and then (when you’re not busy dealing with the crap of adulting), you are going to get these moments where you realize how far (and how many years) you’ve come and you’re going to be so, so grateful, so filled up by it that your heart will want to burst a bit.

At least, that is how today’s whirlwind left me. It also left me so freaking tired (Hubs, too – he’s totally snoozing next to me on the couch right now and it is 7:15 p.m. – being 30-something is wild!), but I’ll take tired and content any day.

As for pictures, all six grandkiddos did a great job and in less than an hour, we were all done with multiple configurations and multiple locations on campus. On the walk from one spot to the next, we passed by the dorm I lived in for my freshman and sophomore years and it was at that point that I looked at my husband (and laughed, again, because we were on that campus for three years together and in that dorm for one year together and STILL never knew each other there) and my babies, and I tell you what – 22 felt both like yesterday and a 100 lifetimes ago.

Such is aging, I suppose. Each year gets fuller and faster and the seasons of life just keep flying by in instants. Thank goodness for moments of mindful awareness and appreciation for the present – those moments when you really see and really give thanks for where you are after everywhere you have been (especially when you find yourself back in a spot where you once came from).

And thank goodness for moments of connection – with family on a large and small scale.

After all the hubbub of the day and before the long road home, Trumy and I got in a quick nursing session in the van and ironically, that is the one picture I took today [side note: how does one take selfies with an otter-boxed iPhone 6s? I am lucky we are both in this shot and not just the van’s ceiling, because dang that thing is hard to hold and actually snap a pic!]. But it is the perfect picture, really, of this moment, of this current season of life. And for all of it, I am so, so glad.