Family Vacay.

Sometimes, things don't work out like we had hoped.  Let me explain.

In January, Jake and I decided that we were ready to take our first little family vacation to Florida, to visit Jake's grandparents.  We went back & forth with the dates for this trip, and eventually chose a week in February.  Just as Jake went to book the tickets, the tickets for that particular week doubled in price.  Even though it wasn't what we had planned - we choose the next week for the cheaper price.  

Fast forward to February.  My dad passed away on February 14th, and we were scheduled to fly out on the 20th.  At first, I thought the timing was horrible.  There's no way we could go on vacation just a few days after my dads funeral...

...until I started telling people.  And everyone said how perfect the timing was, and that we should go on vacation and relax.  

And then I realized that the original week we chose - the week with double-priced tickets - was the week that my dad died.  

Sometimes, things don't work out like we had hoped -  but in the end, you realize they worked out just perfectly.  

+++++

So the three of us escaped to Florida for a week.  Let's just not talk about the flight there, and how Carter screamed for most of it.  Let's also not talk about the way Carter played a game called 'scream like I'm being tortured' anytime he didn't get his way (in a pool full of strangers, in a busy restaurant, anywhere, really...).  

Let's just talk about this:

Because the part about being a family and running free and the salty breeze and lunch at that little beach restaurant and sand between our toes and the ocean sunset...well, that part was oh-so-good.

Carter loved-loved-loved the beach.  He was made for this life.  The sand.  The waves.  The sun.  The shells.  This is Carter's 'place'.  He loved every bit of it.

Except the birds.  Let's not talk about the birds.

Jake and I are not beach people.  We are pool people.  But this week?  We spent more time at the beach  during this week than all of our other vacations combined.  Because that's what little boy wanted.

And I'll be darned if we try to sit at the pool for one more minute while our 'sweet little Carter' screamed like a wild animal.

Yes, really.

The scream.  See?  Not lying.

So - to the beach we went.

I'm so glad we trekked here - it's a quiet, small, private beach, perfect for 'non-beach goers' like us.  

It's good to sit on the shore, and look out at the vastness of the ocean.  It's good to feel infinitely small.  It's good to be reminded of a God who knows each grain of sand, each hair on my head, every hurt, every tear, and equally - every joy.

Our little getaway is over, and we've been thrown back into real-life.  Which looks quite a bit different than our 'pre-vacation' real-life.  Meetings with attorneys and realtors, cleaning out my childhood home, preparing for an estate transfer.  But it's okay - and we'll grow through it, together.

One Thing I Know For Sure: Turns out, home is where it's at...and I'm glad to be back.