Beach Vacation 2010

Isn’t it wonderful to make family memories? We sure made a lot over spring break! We actually took a vacation! Unheard of, I know! To clarify, we have not had a real vacation since our honeymoon almost nine years ago. Sure, we’ve been to the zoo and to the aquarium, but we have not had a real, five night or longer vacation. We always like to pay bills and get ahead. We paid off our first brand new vehicle within two years, and I am perfectly happy and willing to drive that payment-free vehicle for several more years! But we decided we had earned a vacation, and what’s more, Kennedy and Case deserved a vacation.

We did not tell Kennedy that we were going away for spring break, and Case kept it a secret too! J I packed late at night, after she had fallen asleep, and she didn’t even seem to notice the luggage in the study. All she wanted for spring break was to go out to eat everyday, so I assured her that we would do just that.

I was almost finished packing Friday evening when Matt came home sick, with a temperature over 101 degrees! What?!?! He felt just terrible. I was praying so hard for him. At one point, I asked if I needed to call and cancel the vacation. He told me no, not to do it, but I was close. Matt went to bed early, and Kennedy would catch me at the foot of the bed praying for him. She would get down there right beside me and pray for him too. She didn’t even know about the trip. She is such a sweetie and a wonderful prayer. I finally finished packing and had to go to Wal-Mart at 11 pm. When I got home, Matt was still HOT, so I slept in the recliner. Case woke me up around 5:30 Saturday morning. About an hour later, Matt came into the living room and praise the Lord, his fever had broken, and he was feeling better! So, the vacation was on!

We loaded up around 5:30 pm. Kennedy got in the car and saw the luggage in the back. She was very curious, but we told her nothing. About two hours down the road (of a 14 hour trip), she really started asking questions. We stopped for a bite to eat and Case fell asleep in the car. YEAH! We had hoped they would sleep all night. Kennedy began panicking, begging us to take her home. We counted that she asked us to take her home 39 times. We finally convinced her to go to sleep. Thank goodness! I don’t know how many more times we could have avoided her questions.

We were close to Daytona Beach, headed to Cocoa Beach, when the sun began to rise the next morning, and the kids woke up. Kennedy finally realized that we were in Florida when we had her to take a close look at a map at the rest stop. Two hours after that we arrived in Cocoa Beach.

Kennedy had been telling us how badly she wanted to visit the beach, so when we finally saw the ocean from afar, we had a little fun with her. Matt asked her how she liked her big surprise: seeing the ocean. Then he told her he guessed we could drive home now. Kennedy’s response: “You drove all the way here, and I don’t even get to touch it or go to the beach? This is the worst spring break ever!” Matt and I nearly died laughing.

Quick Backstory

I have loved the beach since my parents first took me in 1986, the summer before I turned six. The beach is my favorite place to visit. I have SO MANY memories of going to the beach; precious memories that bring tears to my eyes and joy to my heart. The beach will always be special to me. Matt even proposed on the beach! Though Matt has grown to love the beach, he did not grow up visiting the beach like me, so he doesn’t have quite the same love affair as I do. He had warned me that he did not think Kennedy was going to like it as much as I hoped she would.

Back to Beach Vacation 2010

Then we got to the beach, and she was the absolute happiest little girl who has ever walked this earth, which made me the absolute happiest momma who has ever walked this earth! As Kennedy and Matt played in the water and I held Case’s little hand while he enjoyed the water around his feet, I looked out over the ocean, at one of God’s greatest and most beautiful creations, and I cried tears of happiness, so thankful that Kennedy loved the beach as much as I do.

But I also cried tears of remembrance. I cried remembering how far out in the ocean Jamie D (the younger of my two older brothers), my cousin Shane, and I would swim, all the while with my sister, Lark, yelling for us to come back in. I cried thinking about my last family trip to the beach when I was sixteen and how much fun I had had with my parents. I cried thinking about my cousin whose family had almost always been on our beach vacations; a cousin who left this world much too early. Then I thought about his wonderful father, my favorite uncle, who is battling cancer, and who wants to take my aunt to the beach one last time. I must have hundreds of beach memories, and I cried tears of remembrance for each of them. Then I said a prayer, and I thanked God for everyone of those memories, even the painful ones, and I thanked him for the beach memories to come.

We played in the cold water, built pitiful sand castles, buried the children, collected seashells, and caught Case eating sand. Kennedy even picked up litter! We were sandy and tired, but so joyous! We only spent a few hours at the beach, but Kennedy, Case, Matt, and I had the best time, and we are definitely planning to head back to the beach next May for an extended stay there. We’re thinking Destin though, not Cocoa Beach.

What’s that? You want to know why we drove 14 hours just to visit the beach for a few hours? You see, the beach was just the beginning of Kennedy’s surprise. I’ll have to Blog about the other part later, but let’s just say it was magical.