From Sunset to Sunrise…

I’ve come to accept that Paulus family vacations will not be chalk full of rest, but I must say we’ve come a long way from our days when three of them were in diapers and I had to pack for everyone. Back then, I felt exhausted before we even left by the time I had collected, organized, rolled and fit in all the clothes, toys, shoes, meds, and other into each of the girls’ bags. Now my girls are old enough to pack for themselves. Hallelujah!! I can honestly say that I had no idea if my four year old packed enough underwear before we left for Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. But she loves clothes, so I just counted on her having plenty of everything. That’s my diva-girl! I was bound to get at least one with four daughters!I think the age old pursuit of R&R is rarely captured once you have little ones. And sometimes even when you don’t have kids. Because Americans in general don’t vacation enough, so when we do, we try to pack in a lot of seeing, doing, and living into one or two weeks. Some of us even carry a check list of MUST Do and MUST Sees to ensure we don’t miss anything.

As I sat down to write this post, I made a list of all the fun things about our time on HHI, and found that each experience could be categorized under one of three values. Exercise. Nature. And Relationships.

The girls swam in the pool with newly made friends every single day, and spent a fair amount of time jumping waves in the ocean. And we biked. A lot. Both on the paved trails and the beach. That’s one of my favorite things about HHI: the sand is so compact near the shoreline, biking along the water is both enjoyable and easy. Except when the waterfront breeze turns into a fierce evening wind. Then it becomes a major workout when the wind is going in the opposite direction of your ride.

One evening, hubby thought of a biking picnic dinner on the beach during sunset. We packed our sandwiches, chips and water bottles and hit the pedal to the pedal. Hubby stayed back to practice with Beara who still uses training wheels, and eventually she jumped into the trailer attached to his bike. I biked ahead with the older three and the breezy, sunny evening absent of humidity made it perfect biking conditions. And the best part: the wind blew sideways, so we weren’t fighting for our lives to make it five feet forward as we had no other occasions. When we reached the inlet, maybe five miles down the beach, we sat on the rocks to feast on our well-earned cold cuts with avocado and sundried tomatoes on whole wheat.

Then hubby had some fun taking pics of the girls jumping in the air. You know those cool shots everyone takes that make it look like you’re suspended in air. After about one hundred takes *because our camera has a two second delay factor, he captured some pretty fun shots of the girls. And then we biked back as the sun set, watching fishing boats, passing evening strollers, and looking for dolphins. None spotted that night.

The next day, while the girls were jumping waves with friends they had made early in the week, I was lounging in a chair not too far from them. Sarah sat nearby on the sand, creating miniature castles with her shovel and bucket while I chatted with a college gal whose younger sibling was one of the new friends enjoying the ocean with my girls.

“I was really hoping to see some dolphins,” I told the Georgia-residing Freshman.

“Oh, I saw a bunch yesterday while I was swimming, not to far from here.”

“Really? That’s so nice.” I was trying to not sound jealous. I don’t think I did the best job.

“I thought they were sharks!”

“But they were dolphins, right?!”

“Yes! The lifeguard confirmed and told me I had nothing to be scared of.”

Not two minutes later I spotted something dark popping out of the water about twenty feet beyond where the kids were swimming. I jumped up from my seat and raced toward hubby who was standing by the shore line, shouting, “Dolphins! Dolphins!! Look at the fins!!”

Yeah!! So we got to see some dolphins, and we watched the five or six swoosh in and out of the ocean, dark grey fins moving further away with each dive until we couldn’t distinguish between fins and white water ripples.

A storm was coming in and we made it off the beach just missing a downpour. After showers, on our way out to dinner, we stopped by the balcony on the third floor to watch the rain coming down on the ocean. Wow! Across the entire horizon, streams of faint grey plastered the sky, and then my firstborn spotted something.

“Dolphins! Tons of them!”

And sure enough, there was a pod of maybe thirty or so, popping in and out of the water, in the very area the girls were swimming. Super close to the shore. A flash of lightening lit up the grey sky as the white streak divided the sky from left to right and landed on the water in the most majestic way. When the thunderous boom followed, we decided against our inclination to go down the beach and see the dolphins up close. This was. Close enough.

All week, we hung out with new friends by the pool, on the beach, and around the outdoor, gas-run fire pit in the court yard area. The girls instantly made friends with any kid who wanted to play. And hubby got to know some of his peers in his class. Did I forget to mention that this was a CME and not a total vacation for him?

All six of us are social beings, love people, and have the gift of gab. Although some of us chat a bit more than the others. Not gonna say who, but somebody… Anyway, enjoyed all the connections we made and looking forward to keeping in touch with them on Facebook! 🙂

Want to close by sharing our one vacation tradition that hubby began years ago with me and now carries on with the girls as well. This is what defines a successful vacation for him. Although he values sleep, we endure the sound of the alarm clock once during the week. At an hour while it’s still dark outside. So we have enough time to wake up, dress, make coffee (hot chocolate for the kiddos) and walk over to the beach. To watch a sunrise.

We walk along the low tide shores, the water still as glass, avoiding washed up jellyfish and teeny tiny crabs scurrying out of holes in the sand. Scanning the sky from left to right, I breath out a sigh of relief. Yeah! We didn’t miss it.

We arrive minutes before the sun ascends above the horizon. The colors radiating out and spreading across the sky announce her royal arrival moments before she appears to emerge from the water. And there’s nothing like it. It gets me every time.

I love the sunrise, especially when the skies are clear like this morning. And when I see a sunrise over water, the worries of yesterday melt away. Leaving me basking in God’s love letter to me in the sky. Because, when I can count on so little in this life, I can count on this. The sun will rise every day.

This I recall to my mind,

Therefore I have hope.

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

²²

For His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

²³

Great is Your faithfulness. [Lamentations 3:21-23]

**So what about you? What defines a well enjoyed vacation to you? Do you have any traditions when you take time off from work?

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