Time is Love
Exactly a month ago, we took off for Cherry Grove Beach (SC) for a beach vacation. It was fantastic. I’ve been meaning to share some photos and reflections, but I guess sometimes it take a month to let it go.
We love our trip to the beach. There was coffee on the balcony in the morning, long evening walks at night, cozy mornings in PJs and nowhere to go. We played on the beach, played on the town, played a lot of Rummy and Speed at the kitchen table. It was just what we needed to end the summer.
One of my favorite memories from the trip is losing our flipflops at a sign in the dunes. We were on an evening walk looking for ghost crabs and, upon arriving to the dunes, I suggested we put our shoes by the sign. After about 45 minutes of unsuccessful ghost crab hunting, the sun setting and the tide rising, I decided we better find those shoes. Suffice it to say the sign wasn’t so easy to find at that point, especially because there were no less than at least six identical signs fanned along the shoreline.
While we searched for the sign and the shoes, Miss Lily even had the misfortune of stepping on a beach burr and had “hundreds of holes” in her toe. With the wind whipping her hair, Daddy and the two middle kids off quite a ways with their flashlights and crab hopes still alive, Lily fought off a small panic attack. She had the good grace and maturity to laugh at herself and declared that she was “a hot mess.” While I was busy keeping my own panic in check—were we going to lose half the family too???–Luke spent some time hugging Lily down and telling her in his four-year-old voice, “It’s OK, Lily. You’re not going to die.”
Thankfully, we rejoined the other half of the family and soon found the shoes! I had been just sure that Shrek was going to have to make a recovery mission at dawn to find them. We laughed all the way back to the condo, and it was sweet to tuck in all my littles, safe and sound that night.
So, in retrospect, I think that really was the last of summer. We started sports practices, fair obligations, end-of-summer work deadlines and a whole lot of running. In fact, I’ve been a little down since we returned. I think I’ll be just fine though. Having four kids in school and four of our family in some kind of sport commitment is a whole different pace!
But that’s why that trip a month ago was so important. These kids are only little once. We are responsible for carving out the time that makes all the hard days worth it. And so, we went beaching. And you can’t put a price tag on those memories or the time we spent together as a family of six.
The tans will fade but the memories will last forever….
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Lovely post as usual. Some would say you have an especially active and unique family. That would be true! But I also think you are a very perceptive momma who has the talent to put it in writing. A beautiful blessing.
I love your kids, AND your blog. 🙂 I especially love the part of Luke reassuring Lily. That made me smile because I could just picture it in my mind. Write more often! 🙂
What a great blog! So happy to hear from you , as always. I love that you make the most of your time with your kids and live life to the fullest. Your kids are going to look back on their childhood with so many precious family memories! Sadly , a lot of kids and families waste the chance to make memories!! So glad you find a little time to write, it’s good for your soul and peace of mind and our pleasure! Love you!!
Love this! And you know Cherry Grove holds a special place in my heart. So glad you have enjoyed that little slice of heaven with your family. I believe it has magical healing and “reset” powers. Love ya!