So Blessed

Almost a year ago, my mom began searching for a family vacation destination for this summer.  In October, she booked a house on St. George Island, and we all looked forward to this trip.  It was the earliest we have ever booked a vacation. Vacation for our family includes 17 people sharing a house.  We take turns cooking dinner and usually eat one meal out.  We have a lot of fun and make great memories.

Our last trip to the beach involved staying in a great house, but the beach itself was a let down.  Seaweed inundated the water, and it smelled of dead fish.  The highlights of that trip included the amazing sand castles built on the beach by some artists staying on down the beach and the private pool included with the house.

This year our trip came into question almost as soon as it was booked.  Mom was diagnosed with cancer late in 2009, and we faced a very uncertain future.  To further throw things out of whack, BP lost control of an oil pump, and oil poured into the ocean threatening the beautiful beaches of the Gulf Coast.  Daily online checks and calls to the beach we would visit and those nearby to gauge the status on oil ensued. 

Another challenge came when Andy's company sent him to China for the two weeks that led up to vacation (they actually tried to make it a three week trip).  We  drove to Florida planning our trip to make it to the Tallahassee airport at 2:30p.m. on Saturday.  I left my house with my sister to help with the driving after working a four hour shift at my new job, retrieving Wyatt and Julia from camp (a forty-five minute drive from home), dropping the dog off at the kennel, getting our other pets covered by a neighbor,  finishing camp laundry, and cleaning the house (thanks to Tessa for much help on this).  I even blogged that night and finally fell asleep very late and overslept by an hour.  We still made it to the airport only an hour late.

All of this to say that I really wanted this vacation, and I have not been disappointed by the beautiful house where we are staying, the terrific beach and the time spent with family. 

On the night we left, I was all about letting the kids sleep in the van as much as possible, so bedtime was non-existent.  Wyatt and Julia finally crashed right where they were.

1:00 a.m. -my house--Tessa, Savannah, and Julia are battling each other in some DS cooking game

I am actually drafting this post from the beach.  I have no intention of posting it until we return, so I am sure many more pictures and a few more posts will follow as I chronicle our family memories. This is why I took a second job.  Vacation draws our family close and provides much needed rest as well as an inspiring place to dig into God's word. We have cut much out of our vacations.  We used to try and include one trip to an amusement park, but our family expanded while our budget did not.  I don't know if we will be able to have another family vacation, so I am trying to soak up this one.