Every year since I can remember my family has made it to the beach. I cherish family memories that were made at the beach with my family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even beach friends. This year I was looking forward to it again. We arrived to the ocean and every year I find a new appreciation for God's mighty creation. It's so big. The colors are gorgeous. It stretches far and wide and I can't even wrap my mind around the BIG God that created this scene.
The beach scene is one of my favorites of all of nature. It has a natural calming effect. I love the feeling of sand on my feet. I can sleep to the sound of the waves. It is home to my childhood memories.... especially many of my Aunt Vicki who always was with us at the beach.... building sand castles, playing beach baseball, and her laugh it was definitely contagious at the beach!
So to say I have expectations of my beach vacation might be an
understatement.... I have BIG expectations for the first week of July to
be wonderful! Well, it was vacation and we made the most of it but the weather was less than perfect. We enjoyed two and a half beautiful days of the beach. We played in the sand, we took walks, we found shells, the girls and their daddy ventured into the waves, we played at the beach house pool, we celebrated overcoming fears, and we made memories.
I relaxed.... they played and played hard. I loved hearing Tula's laugh as she walked out into the waves. I saw Ivy's excitement with a smile across her face as she rode the boogie board for the first time and caught the waves back into shore. We collected clams and sea shells by the bucket. We even saw a starfish. I cherish the time I sat from the water's edge and fell more in love my husband and the daddy he is. I am thankful for the way he is with his girls- playing, involved, protecting, and showing them his adventurous side.... he was already talking about taking Joss into the ocean with him next year!
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| I loved watching my girls with my parents.... Nana and Pops.... and feeling so blessed by the memories that are made. Vacations with grandparents are special and that is something that I never really experienced as a child. This year we went into vacation with a little cloud overhead because my brother and Chelsea were not able to go this year but we were making the most the family who was there and looking forward to next year when Graham will be a little bigger and I just know God was saving the sunshine for them. |
Our last day at the beach {TUESDAY} the waves seemed to be growing and we couldn't help but to hear about the forecast for the next several days 100% chance of rain and thunderstorms, flood warnings, and more. But for the time being we were just trying to enjoy the moment.
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| We knew a storm was coming but we were sure it would pass. We were being positive, even said we weren't looking at the weather any more! |
On Tuesday night we enjoyed being able to walk to dinner, our favorite part of being in Seaside. We enjoyed the most delicious meal and were warding off the rain. We got ice cream afterwards but it was hard to pretend we didn't feel the wind whipping up. But we were family, we were away from the distractions of home, and we were making the most of it.
July 4th came.... parade cancelled, fireworks cancelled.... water dumping from the sky in buckets, maybe even barrels. But we put on our 4th of July outfits and went to the movies. We used rain umbrellas instead of beach umbrellas and were wishing we had packed some warmer clothes. Tula splashed in puddles instead of in waves but we were still making memories.
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| We saw Monsters University.... it was the first time at the theater with Tula.... and we enjoyed popcorn and treats! The rain continued and continued some more and on Friday morning we decided to head home. The forecast wasn't changing, there was not a glimpse of blue sky or sunshine on the radar. So we had to make a decision- one more day of sitting in the house or a day of sitting in the car. So we took the plunge and away we went to our old KY home where it to had been raining and raining and raining too. |
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| We made the most of vacation 2013. We were with family. We had fun. We celebrated our little time of sunshine and sand on our toes. And we are already looking forward to next year. |
We are thankful for grandparents who want to create these memories with us, year after year. We are so excited for the beach vacation 2014 and I am going to start praying for good weather today!
