It took a long time...but we did it

So when we first drove around Crystal Lake in April of 2008 with our realtor, one of the first times I remember thinking, "We've got to find a house in this city," was when we drove past the lake and saw the huge awesome fenced-in wood castle playground and lots of swings and paddle boats for the lake and heard that they freeze the lake in the winter so residents can go ice skating. It seemed to be a truly old-fashioned picturesque place to live. When we came back in May with Bekah, our realtor mentioned we could probably go to Main Beach (where the playground was) and tell them we were looking for a house in the area and they'd probably let us in so we could play on the playground. Well, we ran out of time and I'm not sure the weather was good enough to go.

Fast forward to Monday, May 6, 2009. After Main Beach played such a role in my "visions" of living in Crystal Lake, we still had not gone there. So for the first time since we moved here, it was a Monday night with Jason not being in class all night at UIC and no house project deadline AND decent weather, so we thought "Let's have family night at Main Beach." We made some mini-biscuit pizzas, grabbed some baby carrots, water, and cookies and hopped in the van. There were lots of bugs around and it was a little windy (when is it not, though!), but the view was SO gorgeous! The lake is truly beautiful. It's so peaceful to look out and see the pink clouds from the sunset with the houses surrounding the lake starting to turn on their indoor and outdoor lights. It really does something to me.

After dinner, we chased each other around the towers, slid down slides, played the bells, went on the zip line, and of course, swung on the swings.  Both Bekah and James LOVE to swing. (It's in their genes!) It was one of those moments where I could be in the moment and realize at the same time that I wanted to savor this moment just like it was. Because my kids are growing up. Because my children look so happy. Because I love to watch my husband play with the kids. Because we survived so many difficult challenges in the past year and we're still a family. Because a year ago we stood outside this fence and wondered if it was too good to be true that we could actually live in such a great place.