One Beautiful Life

What is it about this little piece of heaven on Earth?

Is it the warmth of the sun and sand? The sound and coolness of the ocean? The kiss and whisper of the salty breeze? The laughter and pure joy of children? The aura of relaxation that permeates the air? The lack of a time schedule? The happiness that overcomes you in the moment of waking on your own (minus alarm clock!). The streets of perfectly constructed and painted houses? Riding your rented and rusted bicycle anywhere you want? NO... it is all these things that make our visits to Seaside and Sea Grove Beach linger in our hearts and leave us yearning for just one more day!

As soon as we arrive and I start seeing the colorful houses, my heart just skips a beat and I feel as giddy as a child. "We are here", I announce to everyone in the car, "We are here!" Envy also starts to set in as I start announcing, "I'd take that one, and that one, and that one!" The area looks as if you have stepped into a movie set. Everything is so perfect and colorful and tranquil. Here is the house used in the "Truman Show". Need I say more?

On our past visits, we have always stayed in condos in the same area of the beach. But this year we took along our precious friends, the Pickett Family, and we rented a house for the first time. We rolled into town Sunday evening and made our way to the house. I'll speak of this briefly, as our motto quickly became, "We're so blessed to be here... that's all that matters... we are here and we are not in a roach hotel!"

As soon as we walked in the house, we were greeted with a... shall I say... FUNKY smell. We all felt out the moment and could quickly see the house was pretty dirty. I HATE other people's mung. My friend Shelley was the bravest as she leaned down and took a whiff of the very stained arm of the sofa and almost lost her breath. LUCKILY the sofas were slip covered and so within the first ten minutes of being in the house, we had the sofas stripped and washing in the washer! Just a little more sweeping of sand, vacuuming, bleaching and cleaning of counters, walls, and appliances... we were ready to get settled in! That's all I'll say... I'll skip the moody dishwasher and... no... that's it... we were blessed to be there! Seriously... we were. And they let us take Dusty!

After doing our grocery run on Sunday night and meeting the hilarious and irresistible Roofus (drunk man in funny hat letting Shelley and I know we could have had him instead of chocolate) we were ready to hit the beach on Monday. We started the day slowly with a relaxing breakfast, good conversation, and bicycle hunting. Around noon the sun decided to come out for the day and we made it down to the sand. The water was FREEZING. YIKES. I thought I was going to shrivel up when my toe came into contact with the first wisp of wave debris. The sun couldn't make up his mind either and so it was a bit cooler than we would have preferred but hey... we were there!

After about five hours of sand and sun (clouds), we went back to the house and Shelley made her wonderful fresh salsa and fish tacos! YUMMY! The kids were wiped and went to bed pretty quickly and we, of course, stayed up for hours chatting.

Day two was pretty overcast but it was our bike day and so it worked out fine. The poor guys spent way too much time just trying to locate bikes... everyone was pretty sold out. Luckily Fred Sanford and Sons were in town and we ended up finding some wind up bikes. (giggling uncontrollably!) We needed these cool attachments for the two youngest children to ride and...well... poor Shane was riding sideways for a few blocks before we convinced the guys to go back and try again. The owner of this salvage bike shop was really digging in scraps in the back... giggling again! Finally... they found one (without a chain!) that would sit straight and we were off!

Abby thought it was the coolest thing and just laughed as she peddled... it was really cute. I am hoping we can find one of these one wheel bikes online so we can ride trails here at home with them. Anyway, we rode like crazy for miles! It was so much fun. There is just so much to see and biking itself is relaxing. The place we wanted for lunch hadn't opened for the season yet... sad... and so we back tracked and ended up having a great lunch at a little place called "Sugar Pies". Our menu items included Veggie Panini, freshly oven baked pizza, and a chicken salad wrap... all very tasty!

After our biking adventure, we went home briefly to make a picnic dinner to take to the lawn in Seaside. There is a stage there and they hold events almost every night, including plays, concerts, and movie viewings. The lawn is a huge area and is covered with families. Children are running every where. Daddies are dancing with their daughters, playing football with their sons, and mommies are keeping them all in eye shot! It's awesome. I think this is one of the things we love most about this beach... how family oriented it is. Abby and Shelley were getting their groove on! "Shake your booty Mommy!" says my little one.

Day three is really our last day as day four will be packing and leaving. Sadness starts to set in as soon as we awake... :0( How fast these little vacations go by when you are having fun! We head down to the beach again and soak up a little more sun than on day one. The water, funny as it sounds, was actually a tiny bit warmer too! Sand castles were made, shells were collected, and snacks eaten. All too soon it was time to head back to the house and it was my turn to make dinner... sun dried tomato, artichoke hearts, and sauteed chicken pasta with salad. YUMMY again!

As always, it was very nice to be down at the beach. It's funny how just being there makes me feel so differently than I do anywhere else. I miss living in a beach community and I always forget until I am back. We always leave trying to figure out how we can make another trip down in September. But the craziness of life takes us over when we return and we never make it back. But I do feel very blessed that we have been able to go four years in a row now. We never took vacations when I was growing up. I think it is wonderful that we are able to share such fun times and make sweet memories with Abby. I can't believe how much she has grown since our first trip. We planned this trip before Abby got sick again this year. While we were in the hospital, I was wondering if we'd even get to go. And we did... we went and had a blessed time. Abby got to ride a bike with us. She was able to play in the sand and water with her friends. Praise God for His hand of healing upon her!

"I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing." Ezekiel 34:26~

Thank you Lord... we so love and adore you.