Beach Week

"Who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and founds his vault upon the earth; who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth— the Lord is his name."
Amos 9:6 ESV

I know I have been MIA lately, but I have been super busy.  Today was my first day back at school with students.  I'll share "back to school" stories later.  I am in "ketchup" mode right now.  Last week, we made another trip to the beach.  We are slowly getting used to tin can living (i.e., travel trailer).  Here are a few pictures from our week.

First, it is really hard to get a tan when it is drizzling.  Or is it?  For some strange reason, I totally forgot to put sunscreen on my face and lips and they are parched.  My lips actually blistered and are gross.  What a way to start the first day of school.  Nothing like scabby crusty lips.  Ugh. 

 

 

Because I wanted to spend more time relaxing at the camper, we bought the boys remote control trucks to entertain them around the trailer.  John Ryan wanted to take his to the beach to "four wheel" over sand mounds.

 

 

John Ryan shares his truck with a little boy that asked could he give it a try.

 

 

The boys at the camper playing with their trucks.

 

 

I think this was the beginning of a fight.  I don't really remember now, but it looks like they were getting on each other's nerves here. 

 

 

We didn't get the small gas grill that I bought early to the beach this time due to lack of room in the truck.  My bright idea was to just get a charcoal grill from WalMart and grill burgers so we were not having to leave to get something to eat for dinner.  I just wanted to chill around the camper.

 

 

Notice the half-cooked burgers in the frying pan.  No, I didn't try to fry then on the grill.  I had to put them in the pan b/c the first set of coals I heated up were not hot enough to finish cooking the burgers. It took me close to an hour to light the charcoals due to the wind.  It was horrible.  THEN, I had to light a second batch to finish cooking the burgers.  I got so disgusted that I put the entire bag on the grill and that is what you see here.

 

 

This is the Colonel watching our neighbors fix their plates.  They started cooking after I did and were cleaning up when we finally sat down to eat.  This picture is so funny to me because the Colonel took his chair from under our awning and sat at the road watching the neighbors cook.  I asked what in the world he was doing.  He said, "I'm watching this gentleman cook so we'll know what to do the next time b/c we are definitely NOT doing it right this time."  I howled even though he was picking on my grilling ability.  Then, if that wasn't enough, when the gentleman finished his cooking, the Colonel told me he was going to ask if he could use his grill to finish cooking our supper.  "OMG!  YOU ARE NOT!" is what I said. 

 

Now do you see that white bag on the ground.  I kid you not that bag was sent from God.  The wind was horrible thus the reason I was having trouble with lighting my charcoal for the first round.  This bag blew into our site and did NOT move after that.  I was able to get the bag, tear it into pieces and use it to FINALLY get my charcoal started.  I am sure God was chuckling in heaven and in His mercy sent this paper bag to me.  Some people don't believe that God does small things like this for His children; that He only works in big ways.  I am not one to put God in a box.  For it to be crazy windy and for that paper bag to blow into our camp and not blow away, I am convinced that God had mercy on my poor limited cooking abilities and said, "Here, Child, let Me help you."

 

 

 

And this was the Colonel's first few bites off my gourmet burger.  He said it had a strong taste of lighter fluid.  :( 

 

 

Duck races on the lazy river.  This travel park does an excellent job of organizing pool activities for all the children and adults. 

 

The boys loved being thrown in the air and landing in the water.  Blake and the Colonel kept taking turns throwing them up.  I'm so thankful my boys are not afraid of the water.  They respect it but do not fear it.

 

And this was my beach reading at night before I drifted off to sleep. 

 

I've left my mermaid fins under the pier until the next trip to the shore.  I can't wait until I am able to retire as the beach is where we are headed.  Our plans have always been to sell our home in Columbia and take the money and buy a place at one of the resorts where you have no yard work, maintenance work, etc.  I am hoping that it is God's plan for us as well.  We shall see.  However, if it is not, then I trust that the plans God has for us are far better than what we plan for ourselves.