Day 21 - A Second Wind

July 16, 2013

Day 21 - A Second Wind

Last night was a little brutal with the late night Karaoke at the Jolly Roger crowd. It’s right across the street from our bedroom window. They finally wrapped things up around 3am. I bought earplugs for tonight! Although after finding a spider the size of my thumbprint on my pillow while I was making the bed this morning, I’m a little nervous to climb back into bed tonight!

This morning the kids were out at the beach by 7:30am ready to swim. I needed to gear up at the Walmart with sunscreen and boogie boards so Jeff took the 4 olders while Mikey and I went and bought some cheap boogie boards (we’ve already snapped 2 in half), sunscreen, and some sand/beach toys for our week at the beach.

We spent all morning and all afternoon at the beach. We took about an hour break for some lunch on the back porch and a little down time chillin’ in the house. We’ve boogie boarded, played paddle ball, played catch with a floating ball, built sand castles, caught sand crabs and flown kites. It’s been awesome! We brought chairs and an umbrella down to the beach with us but I never sat there once. Jeff maybe sat for 20 minutes. It’s just too much fun playing at the beach. Unfortunately I didn’t get sunscreen on them early enough and I think they’ve all got a little sunburn (our first of the trip) on their cheeks and shoulders. They do have an outdoor shower underneath the house (the house is built up on stilts) which has been awesome to keep the sand out of the house.

After 8 hours or so at the beach, we called it a day and headed back to the house. We played cards and Mexican train dominos at the dining room table. While we were playing dominos, Calvin said “I wish there was a storm tonight. It would be fun to be in this house when the power went out.” I think he loves that it feels like a rustic cabin on the beach. I actually think that would be fun too! I think if we play our cards right, this will be our kids favorite part of this trip. :)

Jeff made a beautiful dinner of lasagna, French bread, salad and cantaloupe. I have the best husband ever!

Jeff and I went for a walk tonight on the beach at dusk. I love the ocean. And I love walking with Jeff. It is the perfect opportunity to talk and discuss life and business and everything in between. We solve the worlds' problems on our walks. :)

A few days ago I was ready to call it good and head home but now I feel renewed and ready to keep going. I have been amazed at how adaptable our kids are as well. I can't believe not a single kid has asked to go home. We've been gone for 21 days now and slept in 6 different houses and they haven't complained a bit about it. I love the experiences we've had and the bonds we've strengthened. Even though traveling can seem unstable for family life, I think it reminds you of the things that are truly important and gives you the stability of each other and your relationships rather than just the stability of a place and surroundings. I've learned a lot about myself, about my relationship with my husband and with my kids and about my relationship with my Father in Heaven. I know taking this trip is a luxury. I know that we are lucky to have this opportunity. But the purpose of this trip was much more than a 3 1/2 week vacation. There were many purposes of this trip. I wanted to open our eyes to a little bit more of this big world, to strengthen our relationships and to have experiences that would build confidence and help us learn about people, cultures, history and places. I think we've done a lot of that and I've loved it!