London and I headed down south for the 4th of July and were so excited to be meeting my parents there! I haven't been to the beach with them in years so we were pumped to spend some time with them! Of course, that sentence is translated into laying out with mom and saying hey to dad when we come in for snacks because he won't see hide or hair of the beach when he visits! That's just his way! I was reminded of why we have a sign hanging that reads, 'Booper's Beach'. This place is surely hers! :) (Typing that sentence reminds me of my favorite t-shirt of Lizzy's- her airbrush t-shirt that says 'Bopper's Beach' because the airbrush artist misspelled mom's name! Owns me every time. All of that is just so perfectly awesome!)
I was worried that we would have terrible weather. I had friends at Rosemary beach, just a few hours down the road, and their pictures were of torrential rain. God showed us his endless mercy, however, and gave us a beautiful time on the sand! It POURED every time we traveled. Then the sun greeted us with tremendous hospitality the very minute we put the car into park. God is always good. I am evermore grateful.
Due to all the surrounding rain, our weather was delightful. It was the perfect mix of blue sky and cloud cover. The weather was just warm enough to be comfortable in a bathing suit. 2 degrees cooler and we would've needed t-shirts. Usually, by July, we are battling the burning hot sand and the boardwalk that will literally burn the bottoms of your feet. Not worrying about the hot on baby feet was wonderful!
{paradise}
LET'S DO THIS.
Making a mermaid tail for my little Ariel!
She liked the way getting buried felt! She buried me next, then topped me with beach toys. We were both well sanded by the time we went up for lunch! :)
When we came down to the beach in the morning, we found this huge stick. We stuck it in the sand and threw rings over it. We left for lunch/rest, and when we came back down, our stick looked like this! I joked that essentially we had built an incredible sand castle that day! I was rather in awe over the idea of how people see things so differently in their minds. This silly stick held vision for two completely different ideas. I saw a game to be played. Someone else saw it as architecture. People's thoughts are fascinating. Beautiful, huh?
She's altogether lovely to me. Darling child of mine.
You've read stories here of my dad's wild imagination. The bear-gator (awful beast that lives in Columbus but is scared of my dad) is a household name and nightmare for all the kids. :) While we were waiting for lunch one day, Dad told London all about the 'Under Toad' that lives in the ocean! She was so fascinated. She wanted to know what it looked like so he drew her a picture. He is so creative! I love that about him. I adore storing away his funny stories! What a treasure!
I don't have any pictures of them, but we ran into a darling family that vacations at our condo every 4th. We made 'beach friends' with them about 3 years ago and we've met up down there every year since! They are precious people from Shreveport, AL and have kids about London's age. They are our kind of folks. The kids keep the whole lot of them on their feet the entire time, so it's fun to have some buddies to run around with! I am already looking forward to seeing them next year!
Dad and I scooted off for a little father/daughter time for a bit and had a great time talking theology. I love getting one-on-one time with Dad and I need to do a massively better job at carving out that time for us. We crossed over the Perdido bridge and were given an incredible view of the sunset. I am so very thankful for this getaway. Time stills. Worries forgotten. Obligations disregarded. Life renewed.
