Beach, Part 2

We hit the beach first thing on Monday morning. And no, none of us had bathing suits. I know that seems a tad insane, but when we went to the beach last Spring Break it was freezing cold. I checked the weather before we left, and it said the highs would be in the upper 60's, and we might hit 70. And I guess I was in a hurry. So when we get to the beach, imagine my surprise that even though it was cold, and the water was 68 degrees, the kids wanted to play in the ocean. So they did. In their clothes. Luckily my mother-in-law bought Laney a bathing suit, and then I sucked it up and bought the boys ones too. They needed them, and I learned the seemingly obvious lesson. When you are going to the beach, no matter what time of year it is, pack your bathing suit. 

 Jude picked shells every day. He loved this.

Not only we we initially play in the ocean in our clothes, we flew our red neck kites. Yep. 

Coffee, book, beach, watching the kids play. Pretty much perfect...

Grandmother went with us to the beach one afternoon!

We ate Drumsticks on the deck...

Grandmother also took the kids to Putt-Putt golf. They loved that! She even gave them lots of real golfing advice. They know how to putt for real now! Well, they tried, anyway...

This little stinker was the only one to get a hole-in-one. He was proud!

The morning that we left, we hit the pier. It was beautiful.

This heron was just hanging out. 

They kids hated to leave Grandmother's "puppies." They loved playing with them!

Right before we left, we took a picture on the pier. Do I look like I was a little terrified that the small dock would collapse and we would fall into the murky, alligator filled water below?

Oh, okay. Good. I was afraid I did.

As we headed out of town, I just could not pass by our favorite restaurant where we stuffed ourselves full of shrimp, crab claws and...

... the most amazing key lime pie ever. I did share, but I wasn't too happy about it.

We drove straight to Wednesday night church, and we all decided, it was so good to be home!

Beach - Day 1 & 2

I was surprised when my mother-in-law invited us last minute to join her at the beach. We'd be gone Saturday through Wednesday. The first thing I thought of was school, since we'd just missed a week due to Spring Break. I also had things going on that week, but in the end I knew it was a good thing to do.

This decision also included the realization that it would mean me packing, traveling, and executing a vacation with no help. Just me. 

Whew. 

Off we went. 

The 4 year old really struggled on the way down. He literally asked every 5 minutes if we were "there yet?" and he finally melted down into a huge pile of insanity.

I wanted to turn around and go home. 

We pressed on, and after several bathroom stops (and one stop for some disciplinary action) we made it there in a scant 5 hours. 

*sigh*

Okay.

We ran to the grocery store for supplies and dinner, got to the beach house, ate and went to bed. 

That was day one.

Day two was Sunday, and it dawned like this:

We realized that my mother in law sleeps later than we do, image that, so we scampered out of the house for a coffee run, which was a couple of miles northward of the beach.

After I had my hands on some caffeine, we decided to go see the beach. As we drove southward, we noticed the fog thickening until the point where I was struggling to see. It had been fairly clear just an hour before. We slowly picked our way through the fog until we got to the beach. We parked the van and were absolutely in awe at what we saw. 

I had never seen the beach this way. It was eerily beautiful. The noise of the ocean even seemed muted by this heavy veil of fog.

It was so captivating that I couldn't stop taking pictures.

You could feel the mist in the air. It was literally like moving through a cloud. 

The kids were just elated to be at the beach. This pictures brings tears to my eyes, simply from the excitement they had. They literally raced toward the ocean, just so so excited. 

And yes, they were still in their pajamas. This was only the first of our wardrobe offenses at the beach. 

In awe. Swimming in an appreciation of the grandness of the ocean. Of God's creation. Okay, I was at least. I'm not actually sure what they were thinking...

I was also very thankful for this. My kids don't sleep well on the first night of a vacation, I realized. 

Laney dropped in the sand and wrote this. I'm thankful.

Family portrait.

We somehow managed to peel ourselves away from this beauty and head back to the house.

We were going to church!

I was excited. I was eager to experience a different worship environment.

My favorite part was when the 15 sermon was over, and my kids looked up at me with wide eyes and said, "It's over?"

That part was a little different than the hour long sermon we are accustomed to. 

It was a very thought provoking service for me. I think I am most appreciative for the faithful presentation of the Word we receive each Sunday. If we don't cling desperately to the Word, and only to the Word, what do we have? 

My mother in law was so very kind to take us all to lunch after church to her favorite beach resturant. I was more than excited. Seafood is my favorite, but seafood at the beach? Oh. My.

She treated us to alligator. It was really good. 

While we were waiting on our food, Zane drew a portrait of Grandmother. She was kind enough to pose. He gave her the picture when we was done so she could draw her glasses. That was a little above his skill level... 

We had to do the touristy thing.

Getting my previously not-a-tomboy tomboy into this dress was not easy. I had to document the occasion. 

After lunch, Grandmother took us to a really cool park. 

Laney is up in the tower. You can see her arm...

The kids loved the park, and I could have taken a hundred pictures.

After the park we rested at the house for a bit, and Grandmother even taught the boys how to play chess. 

(Or "chest" if you're 4 years old. And if you're 4, you don't really understand how to play and you will probably drive your older brother a little crazy. But that's okay, when you're 4)

And that was day one and two. Just typing all that out makes me tired again! More days, with lots of photos, to come...

Beach!!!

Allen texted me at 4:30 on Friday and said, "Beach. We're leaving at 10 in the morning. Free place to stay. Coming home Tuesday."

Um, okay. Now I've always wanted my husband to plan a spontaneous trip somewhere, and I was glad he did. Then I panicked. I usually take a week to plan a beach trip. Clean the house. Make lists. Pack. Plan. Not this time!

I didn't start packing until the next morning really, since I didn't tell the kids we were going until the next morning. I did it! I didn't freak out, I didn't panic and I didn't drive anyone crazy. (so he says.)

The condo was gorgeous. Just beautiful. We were so glad to be there. It was cold. I mean COLD. Saturday through Sunday night we had what they called "pre-hurricane winds." 40 mile an hour winds. And they were cold. We had fun anyway. And being at the beach in the cold was an assault on the senses. Cold and beach weren't used in the same sentence until now. I liked it. I liked having the doors on the balcony open. I liked being cold at the beach.

You know, just because. It's Zane.

We played Putt-Putt for the first time ever, rode Go Karts for the first time too and ate way too much fabulous food. I got to read a lot, the kids played and we came home feeling like we had a great vacation-some time away. I'm so thankful for God's blessing. And for sweet friends who share the wealth! :)