adventure weekend

I am BEAT!  

THAT turned out to be a much bigger adventure than we had planned :)

We headed to a new place lots of us had been wanting to check out...and it was a beautiful location...but a lot more like camping than a nice getaway :)  Thankfully, we've been around the block a time or two on this island and had adventure expectations...and those were met!  The kiddos had a blast and would have stayed forever and God's creation is SO incredibly beautiful that spending the weekend out in it was a GIFT!

I love this picture :)  

Adventure was a lot easier before it included hauling pack-n-plays and paci’s fallen in the ocean. Adventure is more manageable on marked roads and in first-tongue places and at well-reviewed establishments. And then sometimes adventure is in ways you weren’t thinking (or maybe even wanting.)

But it’s worth having, worth finding, worth trying. 

The kiddos that make traveling light not-so-light are the ones who spend hours building hermit crab habitats, crafting drift-wood drum sets, storing up hundreds of broken shell treasures, loving being alive and outside, and falling into bed weary and sandy and sunscreeny and not at all minding that there’s no water in the shower and no battery for the wave runner they’re pretending to drive and no food till hours late. More. Time. To. Explore what God put here just for them, they’re sure. 

I love adventuring life with these dear ones, who remind me how sweet it all is, His love all around us.

The girls spent HOURS finding and collecting shells

And Matt is pretty sure he needs this boat!

AH, Nikki leaves the end of this month and I don't know WHAT we're going to do.

Not just about homeschool.

And not just about all the English program help.

Most about life without someone who's truly become a part of our family. I don't want to talk about it.

Adventure coma means it was a good getaway!

I never dreamed when we were serving here in Haiti 10 years ago with Julie, as a single short-term medical missionary, that we'd be raising and adventuring with our kiddos together today...I am so thankful for another young family to do life with!

Our kiddos spent hours this afternoon shell crafting :)

So thankful to have gone. SO thankful to be home and for the little things--like clean water, running water, warm water, refrigeration, power--that are easy to take for granted till you remember how hard they are to come by!

THIS is a big week ahead...with His grace and love!