SAHM I AM to 4: Edisto Beach.....

I love the beach! Did you know that? It's true. I love to feel the sand between my toes. I love the smell of the salt air. I love to see the waves crashing on the shore. I love looking for shells while walking on the beach.

How can people not see that handiwork of God when they see these things?

I know that people who live at the beach don't get there as often as we think we would if we lived there. I wonder at times if you live in a place like that do you become immune to the beauty and awe? I know when Steve and I lived in the Asheville area, we commented to each other regularly on how people seemed to not notice the the beauty of the area around them--like looking at that picture on the fridge--if you don't stop and really look at it then after awhile, you just don't notice it.

We still miss seeing the beautiful sunsets that we so enjoyed in Asheville.

Don't get me wrong, there is beauty and marvels to behold no matter where you live. We often stand outside in the evening or morning to watch the beautiful colors as the sun rises or sets. We love driving across the dam and watching the people enjoying beautiful days on the lake.

But the beach, there is something extra special for me there!

This past week was very difficult and it was so wonderful to escape to Edisto for a few days. The place where we can just get away from the rest of the world and be still.

This trip we took a friend who had never camped before. She got the really experience. True to our campers name "munner magnet" we had quite the storm. When we first got there the wind was so strong that we almost couldn't get the bed end closest to the beach out and set up. If the wind had been any stronger, we would not have made it. We finally got set up and then the next round of storms rolled in. Lightening and thunder and wind and rain like we had not seen before. So what did we do during that time......

Well, the big girls played polly pockets, the boys wrestled, Casey went back and forth between the two and Max? He hung out on the couch......

We also watched some dvds on Mommy's computer and we had dinner. Luckily I had planned spaghetti and had the sauce in the crock pot so Steve didn't have to go out in this weather and grill.

After the rain, we rode bikes and played in puddles.....

Then we went and walked on the beach. We were supposed to stay dry....yea right!!! 4 of 5 kids came back soaked!!! One of us "fell" into the water.

The next day was much better--over cast and cool. We were able to really enjoy being on the beach. We found lots of shells and dug in the sand and splashed in the waves.

We played chase.....

The girls dug some holes that "accidentally" ended up resembling Mickey Mouse.

Landon tried really hard to pose like the big boys......

We rode a lot of bikes.....

Did you know there is a 4 mile long bike trail? It was beautiful.

Landon and Casey loved seeing all the little crabs all over the boardwalks.

We might have taken a picture or two or fifty....

We rode to the education center and enjoyed all the animals and activities they had to offer.....
Like driving a shrimp boat...

Drew walked around to the front of the boat (see him in the window....)

Here is a better picture.....

I wish I had a picture of Shelby's face when she saw him!!!

The next day the waves were so harsh that we took the kids to the cove and let them swim there.

They had a good time watching dolphins and playing on boogie boards......

Drew pulled Casey for a long time and she loved it!!!

Landon found a starfish but was scared to pick it up so the big girls came to his rescue and picked it up so he could see it better and touch it.

The girls drew a dolphin and and then filled it in with sand......

Some of us, read that all 3 boys, took a nap on the beach.

Casey found part of a starfish that was in the shape of a cross.

We rode bikes to get ice cream on Saturday night. Casey and Landon both rode the mile to get the ice cream although one of them didn't ride all the way back.