SkateBoard Afternoon

Skateboard Afternoon from Pearl on Vimeo.

When the girls want me to take them somewhere like the park or a coffee shop my first thought is almost always I cant' because I have something else I need to do. If I happen to have enough presence of mind at that moment to let my thoughts go deeper I usually realize that spending some time playing with the children is actually the best thing to do.

Last week Pearl took her camera along and we shot some footage of us goofing around with skateboards over at the empty farmer's market stalls where there is a nice slope for skating. Pearl finished up the editing last night and I can now share it with you here.

Simple Fun With The Kids

Picture by Pearl Beerhorst

I spent a good chunk of time with the little girls and Pearl the other day - down at the mostly empty farmers market - with skate boards and Pearl's camera.  We began shooting a little film that we will soon post here.  The market has a good slope to it which makes for good skate-boarding.

I really relish these times to hang out with my kids, especially with one about to move out in a couple weeks.  It has to be one of the best things in the world -- which makes me wonder why I don't make it happen more? It seems that some of the best things in life just don't happen unless you push through the resistance of typical routine and ambivalence and make it happen.

Sometimes you set out to have time together and it becomes a giant train wreck, like this summer when our family went to the Maker Fair in Detroit and we had some major internal battles and strife on the way home. But then, even the times that get sullied with patches of failure, they have their moments of glory-- and are fond to remember as something you at least endured together.

Here's to families making time for each other through the good and bad, thick and thin. It could be just a walk in the neighborhood.