Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Bliss- I simply planned to title this post Bliss. This was after spending some time in calm ocean water where I caught a glimpse of sea turtle and we see dolphins daily. An afternoon thunderstorm threat brought the opportunity to barely beat my dad at pool and time to rest and hang out with the family.
Sitting poolside is a challenge as mosquitoes eat us alive. We struggle to find relief, so I offered to take a trip into town for some Citronella candles. However, the van would not start. This is just another glitch in my ongoing struggle to put my trust in God. My mind races to the day I took the van to have the tires rotated just a week ago. "As a general rule, we check your vehicle, and it is good to go," the mechanic stated. He went on to say that we are due for some routine maintenance, but there is no need to hurry. When the van wouldn't turn over, I got out and checked the doors to make sure none had been left ajar. I found them all solidly closed, and since they've been left open before without draining the battery, I couldn't make sense of it. The clicking sound I heard when trying to start the van frightens me as I remember the last time we replaced an alternator on a van---very expensive. We are out of state which usually means more expensive, and we are struggling financially anyway. So, I try to hold on to the relaxing day we had. I try to be grateful for the fact that I was going to run an errand and did not learn this about the van when we really needed or wanted to go somewhere. I try not to be edgy or worried. I try to remember to be joyful in all circumstances and to replace worry with prayer. I try to trust that my God will take care of us, but I admit that this is a struggle.
Crab hunting in the afternoon yielded some huge crabs. Unfortunately, the best picture I took was without a memory card, and my camera has no internal memory.
Wyatt wanted to take this home. He has been fascinated by the crabs. I asked him to settle for a picture instead. I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but I am going to gather pictures of Wyatt's favorite things and people and put them in a collage frame in his room. Because I blog all my pictures now, Wyatt and Julia do not have the luxury of leafing through albums, and kids really like to do that. I think a collage will make for a nice alternative.
This is the living room of our vacation getaway.
These scary stairs lead to the bedroom where the kids slept. We were not too thrilled to learn that Zach and Austin carried Wyatt and Julia down these steps one night. Wyatt and Julia were asleep during this event.
Two sets of bunk beds, a half bath and a foo ton all fit in this little loft, and nine people shared this room. Zachary and Austin moved to the hide-a-bed in the living room after a couple of nights. This is the price you pay for a beach side house with a mattress for everyone, air conditioning, and indoor plumbing.
The view from the front of the house.
The view from the back of the house.
The view from our front window or deck. It was from this window that we watched the dolphins jumping from the water.
Game time
baseball on the beach
My family all takes drinks into the ocean with them. I could never do that as my drink would end up full of saltwater...nasty.
This is not a great picture, but it is a funny story. We city folk have never seen one of these ice vending buildings. Josh and I went to get ice, and he inserted the money and hit the cooler button before I could stop him. We wanted bagged ice, so we had to start over.
