Sandy sand sand

My men and I were able to get away for a short vacation to the beach this past week. Nick had a 4 day weekend courtesy of the US Army, so we took the opportunity to leave town and enjoy some much needed R&R.

Have you ever done that? Ignore the budget and the busyness, and force yourself to book a night or two at some quiet beachy place, just to just get away?

We’ve been doing more and more of that lately. Some would probably frown, or question how busy we really are if we still manage to take these trips to the beach, but strangely enough… the busier we are, the more these little get-a-way’s are necessary.

I think we’ve always been a fairly busy family, filling our days with adventures of every kind—but I’ll tell you, Nick’s Company Command has earned the “busiest most stressful time in our life” title. We’re doing our best to roll with the punches, praising God for the opportunities to witness and bear testimony of our faith and trust in Him… but also doing all we can to take more breaks so burnout doesn’t hit.

I admit, sometimes I wonder if burn out has hit already, but again, we are trusting God and using our resources to add some downtime to our busy schedules.

As you can see, even Noah has been on the verge of burn out. So glad he was able to catch up on his sleep during our vacation.

So… as I said, we went to the beach. The beautiful glorious beach. I found a smackingly good deal for a 2 night stay at a golf course beach resort, and booked it before I could think twice. Our stay included free breakfast at the resorts restaurant and free bike rentals. Not to mention a one bedroom suite with a balcony overlooking the beautiful pools and lazy river. It was lovely.

And you know, the resort was marvelous, and I think we’ll stay there again, but the real highlight of the trip?

The beach. The beautiful sandy beach.

As we made the short walk down the board walk to the ocean side,  the smell of salt, sand, and sunscreen (yes! sunscreen!!) filled the air. It was heavenly. Coconut, pineapple, and every other sunscreen scent you can imagine. It wasn’t a crowded beach, by any stretch, but still I could smell it’s fragrance.

And crazy as it sounds, I stopped and breathed it in to make a memory. Then we slathered the boys down with sunscreen of our own, and then let them hit the beach running.

Within moments, diggers and dumpers, backhoes and plows were set to work by 6 little boy hands (and 4 adult helpful guiding adult hands too).

Oh sandy sand sand. How I love you!

We were all covered, head to toe, by the time we left.

As you can see, I literally mean, “head to toe.”

But still…it was such a pleasant vacation get-a-way, that every speck of sand we brought home with us seemed worth it.

Praise God for the much needed reprieve before returning home for another draining and busy week.