The Deep Blue Sea...
Waves crashing on the shore.
Dolphins jumping in the horizon.
Castles piled high on the sand.
Laughter floating on the breeze.
This was the idyllic setting of our week at the beach.
Complete perfection in a vacation.
We had a very gracious couple offer their beach house to us several years back.
Unfortunately, we had not been able to make it work out to accept.
This year, they would not take "no" for an answer!
So last week found us at Topsail Beach...having a wonderful time!
The beach was literally out the back door.
Having four children and all of the buckets, shovels, towels, water bottles, snacks, etc that come with them...
it was so nice to simply walk several steps back and forth to the house.
Jackson was off to the beach in a flash...
but was soon distracted with chasing after the little birds running away from the waves.
He kept his distance from the crashing waves...a little intimidated by how noisy they were.
He preferred instead to run along the shore...and occasionally getting his feet wet every now and again.
Hailey was absolutely fearless (unfortunately)...and would run straight into the water.
She wasn't sure about the mud sticking to her feet...or the tide pulling her back in...
or the saltwater taste coating her face...
But none of that kept her from playing...
She found a little ball that she would throw out into the water...
then she would watch it as it swept out in the tide and chase after it...
(at times getting tossed over by a wave or two)
then she would pick it up...and start all over again.
Tyler and Amy played and played...
and played some more in the waves.
Their faces were raw from the water and a bit burnt from the sun...but they kept on playing!
There were lots of castles built...
and even a smiley face...
plenty of snacks...
some covered with its fair share of sand...
a perfect little swimming pool made splashing around an afternoon pastime super easy...
There were also bubbles to chase...
ice cream to indulge in...
homemade waffles to feast on...
and games to be played.
Since we had already started school, I decided to make the beach/ocean a part of our studies.
Before we left, we learned about different ocean animals, tide pools, currents, waves, etc.
The first few days of school were complete with yummy "ocean snacks" and fun underwater crafts!
While we were there, God provided some hands-on opportunities to flesh out
what the kids had already learned.
We saw a ghost crab scurrying across the night time beach...a starfish with a missing arm...loads of empty shells and even a discarded exoskeleton...identical to what we had just learned about!
We will be forever grateful to God's precious family for sharing their blessings with us!
As a family, we sat around praising God, not only for His creation,
but the willingness of His body to bless us.
Tyler had been quiet for awhile...and then said,
"We need to think of something nice to do to tell them how grateful we are
because 'thank you' just doesn't seem enough.
This (looking around at the beach and the house) is way more than just two words!"
Yes, words cannot describe how blessed we were to be on the receiving end of this kindness.
Spending a week with our precious family surrounded by the awe and majesty of His creation
has left us humbled and extremely grateful!!!
A treasured memory that will be imprinted on our hearts forever!
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