We had a long roadtrip to a soccer tournament in Virginia this weekend for our daughter, Amelia. On Saturday and Sunday our son Aiden wanted to get a few training sessions in because the spring track season starts up this week.

We found a fantastic park, called Dorey Park and Recreation Center, within ten minutes of our hotel that featured trails, ball fields and many other amenities - including horseback riding trails and a small barn.

I realized quickly this could be a fantastic opportunity to get a quick painting done but I left my Plein Air kit at home. So I picked up an inexpensive gouache kit at the local 5-Below discount store, walked around back behind this barn and painted for a bit.

Both of our kids are Juniors in High School. My wife Janine and I are constantly bombarded with reminders of how fleeting our time left with us all living under one roof is.

The 6-hour car ride home from the tournament late Sunday evening featured both kids reading their essays for their National Honor Society applications aloud. Needless to say there were some tearful moments as we journeyed up I-95.

Moments like these make me feel grateful for the opportunity to be part of this little, amazing family. Looking back I find myself happy with some of the decisions I've made to prioritize my time in such a way that I have put my time with them upfront amongst other competing priorities more often than not.

Don't get me wrong occasionally I'll push the agenda a bit and lobby for my favorite activities from time-to-time. But, for now I'll mostly continue to build my schedule around the three roof people I share time with and paint whenever the opportunities come to me.