Why do I feel like I can breath better here? Why is it when we start driving away that I feel this insane pull to be placed right back on that sand? Why does every sunrise take my breath away and instinctually make me praise the Lord?

How can I breath better and my breath be taken away all at the same time???

When those answers appear to me I will let you know, too!

This has been a vacation that my soul needed. Our entire family needed! My only responsibilities were making food for my family and making sure we all had sunscreen on - that was it! My brain needed a breather and my body needed the rest - my soul was there praising the Lord and soaking it all in to prepare for this next and final quarter of 2022. It’s been an incredible and exhausting year so far. But, more on that in another blog post!

Let’s talk sunsets, sand and adventures!

Every morning I woke up between 6:00am and 6:30am. I would first make coffee, then open all the curtains, sit at the table and read, peering over the pages of my Bible waiting on the orange glow to start creeping up over the edge of the earth. I almost posted a photo from every single sunrise I witnessed! They were all just spectacular and completely different.

Our first few days were chilly but the water was perfectly clear and the waves were so gentle. The kids didn’t seem to mind the temperature of the water at all! While standing on the beach RyAnne looked into the sky to find a pair of Bald Eagles! They were stunning just gliding through the air in their domain enjoying the views just like us.

After enjoying the sand and surf a few days, we decided to head to Eastpoint, Fl to go to the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve and Nature Center. It’s just over the bridge from St. George Island. There we enjoyed the exhibits and nature trails. The kids loved how hands on they could be at the Nature Center. They explored the tanks filled with life, put their hands on loads of dead things in jars, held 600 year old pottery from the islands, learned about sea life and peered through microscopes. We all somehow grew hungry after this and made our way to downtown Aplalachicola to The Owl Cafe that overlooks the beautiful bay. Olivia grabbed my camera off the table and took a few snaps of me.

Another gorgeous sunrise and we headed back to the beach to find our beach neighbors fishing lines bent over with a massive fish tugging their line. If my research is correct, say hello to the bull shark (or a blacktip or maybe it was a lemon - I dunno!) that we were all swimming with! They pulled in several that day and the day before along with an eight foot long hammer head shark too! I’ve never seen a shark this large let along it be on the beach in front of me. What an awesome sight it was! It was fascinating to watch this family. They would hop in their kayak with a baited hook, paddle just over the sand bar and drop the line in the water, paddle back and wait. It didn’t take too long before all six of their young boys and some help from one of their momma’s, were cranking in the sharks!

That night we headed to The Blue Parrot for our fair share of seafood: Snow Crab Legs that needed NO butter and popped right out of their hard shells, crab cakes, hush puppies, cheese grits, Gulf shrimps. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. The views are also spectacular. We watched the dolphins frolic while we indulged and yet there was another gorgeous, show stopping sunset for us. Delish dinner and entertainment, I give it 5 Stars!

The only photo I have all of the kids together are of them getting Rocco ready to jump in the pool without his floaty. Our big boy decided he wanted to learn to swim! Now that he’s tall enough to stand in the shallow end he has enough courage to take off the floats. With the help and encouragement of his big sisters, he lifted his feet off the ground and dove under the water. He did so good!! He even attempted to swim in the deep end too!!!

We ended up extending our stay on St. Georgia Island by five extra days in a different house and that still wasn’t enough. Two days before our trip came to an end, Olivia said, “I’m sad to leave this place but I miss my friends. Can we just put our house and our friends here?” It has become our favorite place to make memories in the sand! And, yes, it’s very hard to leave but I agree with Olivia, I miss my people too!