Sweet, sweet Vacation!!!

This is where we spent our Summer vacation....

not that one, silly.....

this one....the dearest little cottage by the sea.
As one person so profoundly put it, "the cream between two crackers!!"
She's one of the few original cottages left along the boardwalk.
She's a treasure, so full of charm & beauty & character.
One night I overheard someone on the boardwalk say, "I'd rather live in that place and be happy then live in that big house and be sad." I agree.

And she is loved by this lady and her family, (my soon to be sister-in-law and niece)! THANK YOU BECKY for allowing us to spend some time with you and Ashley in a place that is dear to you both. Becky's parents have owned this cottage for many years and have vacationed there even longer.

Her views were spectacular....sights & smells refreshing and reinvigorating.
Sitting on the rocking chair sipping some morning coffee and watching your cares ride by with baskets on the front.

the neighbors yards provided some beautiful sights to behold.

BUT NOTHING COMPARED TO THESE:

Tyler and Luke bravely played in the waves for hours on end....

Paisley's first time in the sand.....xoxo.

the boys slept so well.....long naps in the afternoon,
gearing them up for evenings on the boardwalk.
What a sweet way to fall asleep....from pure, fun, played out exhaustion.

Naptime=Daddy and Mommy relaxin' time.

Tyler wanted me to get a picture of him in "my cool outfit." I have no idea where he gets this from! ha ha ha!!!Becky & Paisley enjoying the sweet Summer day.
Jake built the kids the coolest "pool" complete with
a trench for water to come in through....
It was quite awesome! He's the coolest Daddy!!
Oh, be still my heart!!!
silly, sun kissed nights on the boardwalk. I took the kids on the ferris wheel. It was a big, tall ferris wheel.
And this is how I felt.

I almost lurched.
I kid you not. It was borderline.
I'm not the same anymore with heights after having babies.
I think it's a built in thing, (*you have offspring to raise, get down from that cliff kinda stuff.*)
The kids loved it and Luke did what his shirt says!!
I took pictures to distract myself.
I need to stop talking about it now 'cause my
belly is starting to do funny stuff.
Seriously.

On Saturday night my friend Angie did a laid back, carefree
photo shoot with us on the beach, (*I'll post more pics throughout these last days of Summer...oh, how can it be??) She has incredible talent and a great eye for detail & capturing the MOMENT!!
The night was perfect and the lollipops were in abundance x 3!!!
It was relatively painless and actually quite fun.
THANK YOU ANG!!
On Sunday morning I woke up early
and took my chair out to the beach to watch the sunrise.
What a special time, just me & a new day.
"And then Summer comes, and with it God's invitation to enter into life, and joy, and wonder. A time for Sabbath. To play, yes, but play that brings deep restoration. (We Americans attack our vacations as we attack the rest of life, and most folks I know need a few weeks to recover from their "vacations"). And so I am trying to find some genuine experience of Sabbath this Summer. Reading books, taking walks, drinking in beauty wherever I can find it."
~John Eldredge~