the beach in november

last week, my kids had 2 days off school. teacher workdays.
so we left sunday morning after church. drove 6.5 hours (it's *supposed* to take 8. we only stopped once. for 7 minutes.) to the beach and had an amazing few days together!

the time changed the night before we left. so i knew it would get dark EARLY. we arrived in town around 5:15 pm. we only had minutes until it was dark...so we drove STRAIGHT to the beach before we even drove to the house. we (ok. I :-)) HAD to see it! ahhh...

we stopped at the seafood place to get worms. then headed to the house. my parents are SO generous to let us use their house when we can.

we unloaded. got settled. ate dinner (i brought stuff for chicken tacos. always a hit.) and then started a puzzle. yes, i was exhausted from driving all day but this was about THEM, so i dug deep.

rebekah and joshua both brought guitars and they led us in a couple songs of worship. we also studied a chapter in 2 Timothy together.

the first couple months of this school year have been...hard. they've just been hard. lots of adjustment and challenges, and, to be honest, lots of un-wise choices on the part of our kids that we are trying to figure out how best to parent.

this weekend away with them had one goal - to re-connect...me with them. and them with each other. it was a sacrifice. it was time. and money. and we all missed out on *stuff* back at home. but it was SO needed and good and worth all we *lost* by doing it.

i brought all our food with us. but planned on a couple treats. one was frozen yogurt. instead of taking us all together to get frozen yogurt, i took each child one at a time throughout our days there. the little shop is about 1/2 mile from the house and a perfect walking distance.

levi was first...the night we got there... while we were together, i learned that he's going to be superman next halloween and that if he gets a dog, he's naming him something that starts with "S".

i also took lincoln that first night (my 2 africans don't sleep well...and we were in the car all day...so i was trying to get them a little tired...) it rained on us. but it didn't dampen our smiles!

monday morning i got up and ran...and said good morning to the beach. it was decent out...and we were on borrowed time with some rain coming in...joshua and sawyer fished by the house...

we had smores pancakes. (pancakes with marshmallows and chocolate syrup. they loved it. i loved my egg ;-) i had some treats, for sure. but i'm picky about my treats...and i never have them first thing in the morning!)

 the kids played a little basketball while i did a little strength training.

 and we were walking onto the beach a little after 9 am!

there's no WAY i would have gotten in the water. but they did. it was 75 degrees out and sunny and my heart felt like it might burst. i definitely texted pat (who was sitting back in his office at his job :( ) and said, "I HAVE TO LIVE AT THE BEACH AT SOMETIME IN MY LIFE."

 we went for a LOONG walk. 

i sat and read a little bit. but i mostly talked to whatever kid was near me. or we walked and looked for shells.

 a little football game :-)

  can you see the sand flecks on his nose?

we stayed a good 3 hours and then their stomachs made us leave :-)
we ate lunch (just sandwiches...) and worked on the puzzle for a couple hours...

 sawyer and i went on our little frozen yogurt date. and it POURED on us!

the older 3 ran together in the rain.

the rain let up later in the afternoon...so we went back to the beach just to walk. (i think i ran/walked a LOT of miles that day!!)

 this is a rare sight...but precious to this mom!

 dinner that night - for them. ;-)

 bailey and i went on our date walk. and then we watched a movie at the house.

the next morning (tuesday) it was POURING when i woke up. so i didn't run. we had omelettes for breakfast. and enjoyed our time at the house...working on the puzzle...reading...watching the rain...

it let up to a sprinkle and we went on a LOONG walk. i told them to find the best puddle - they jumped and ran through them ALL!

we studied the same chapter in 2 Timothy each day. twice. THEY read it out loud to each other. we focused on different verses and ideas each time. with them, we often read a verse or 2, and then "teach them" what we think they should learn from it. i wanted to show them a different way (there are SO many GOOD ways to study the Bible!) and to let THEM discover and come up with what they were learning from the repetition. 

 after lunch (sandwiches again), joshua and i went out on walk date. that kid is so fun and easy. i made his day and his walk date also included a stop to buy new basketball shoes!

it rained ALL afternoon and evening. so rebekah and i drove to get frozen yogurt. i was SO sick of being rained on :/ and i got frozen yogurt for the first time all weekend (i couldn't get it 6 times!) that night we went out to dinner :-)

 the next morning we packed up and drove to say goodbye to the beach and headed home.

 

it was such a good few days together. it was wonderful to watch my kids reconnect with each other. and with themselves. and with me. i can't say we *needed* it, but it was a gift and a huge blessing to be able to do it. i took a video of that scene right there and can listen to that sound anytime i want :-)

the beach in november. i'm a HUGE fan!