It took months of planning and revising and searching to find the perfect place for a grand getaway with friends, but I finally did it. Boy oh boy was it worth it. I found a reunion house that could house all of us under one roof with everyone having the privacy they need, had a heated pool, was only 2 blocks from a private neighborhood beach.
Finally the day came and we grabbed some friends to fill up the Expedition and off we went.
We drove through the night and Seth was my copilot. He is a great copilot. We made excellent time through Mississippi and arrived in the morning, most of our crew was already at the house living it up. But Lacey was sure to give the kiddos a proper greeting when we came in, as well as give me a hard time for wearing track pants with a polo. Ed was already in the pool to start the water fight with the boys who hopped in as soon as they could get changed.
Out on the pool deck there was an enormous Connect4 set, but instead of actually playing the game, all the boys took turns trying to hold as many of the tokens on their arms as possible
I think Phinehas won.
We also brought an inflatable jousting set for the pool, which never really worked for much more than just standard floaties.
When it was time to hit the beach, if you got yourself out early enough you could take the golf-cart. Otherwise you were walking. But it was barely more than a block, so no biggie.
That’s why we brought the beach cart with the big wheels anyways.
The beach was fantastic. Soft white sand, beautiful weather, and plenty of sunshine to soak up. The little boys jumped over the waves as they rolled in, Silas scoured the beach for treasures, and Papo tried to help the boys feed the seagulls.
The fun we had wasn’t all at the beach though. We did plenty of silliness inside the house. Like when Joel dressed himself up in a morph suit and pretended to be Ed’s shadow. We also had a pool table upstairs that saw plenty of use.
But the siren song of the beach would not be silenced, and before you could even finish your lunch and dry off, we were back. Oliver worked on burying himself in the sand, because why not.
We also rented a kayak for our stay and had loads of fun with it.
Silas of course made his obligatory giant-hole-in-the-sand which Koebrich promptly staged an accident with. And then Silas was at it again, covering his best friend Joel all the way up to his neck in sand. The best part though was just hanging out with friends and getting reconnected.
After the sun went down it was back to the house and the heated pool for more soaking wet fun.
But eventually it was bedtime … for the littlest kiddos.
And since we did not plan on missing a meeting for the week we were gone, we made up a schedule so that come Thursday we could all have a share.
The bigger kids stayed out at the pool for much longer.
What is a trip to the beach from the midwest without some FOOTBALL!!
But we also know how to chill out poolside too.
No vacation to the beach is complete without sandcastle building. Some were more elaborate than others.
We also found jellyfish bodies floating around in the wash near the shore. Thankfully they were deceased and their stingers had all been lost in the waves. But it was an experience for the kids to hold them. A bit like wet slime
Ed took some of the littler ones with us out in the Kayak too, but the sandcastle contest would not be stalled.
Naturally there was a volcano ready to erupt during the contest.
Oh, I almost forgot. Silas persistence paid off with these awesome snail shells he found, but soon it was payback time and he found himself up to the neck in sand.
Being with good friends really brings out the inner person. Especially when there is delicious coffee involved.
One of the many highlights of the trip was our “local” meeting on Thursday. It was so nice to hear all the parts from people we don’t get to see very often and hear everyone’s expressions of faith.
