Vida. Risa. Amor.

The beach is truly the best vacation location for our family. We just spent a week at Puerto Penasco and it was actually hard to leave this time. In October the weather is perfect there and it is just the right time of year for us to be able to get away before all the busy holidays.

I was able to spend a few mornings and afternoons alone just walking down the miles of unclaimed beach. Before this vacation a million different activities and responsibilities had been taking up me and my family's time and it was just such a nice change of pace to be able to take a break from it all and not have a single thing on schedule to have to do. There is something absolutely overwhelming about standing in front of a huge ocean alone with no noise to hear but the waves with the wind on your face and the sand beneath your feet. With nothing to distract my attention, I always seem to have my heart to heart moments with God there. I came home completely refreshed and energized and refocused.

I was also surprised when I noticed that it was very rare if I ever heard my kids complain about anything while we were there. And the best part of the beach is that all the fun stuff was free! (What a difference to Disneyland!) Aydan commented several times throughout each day that this beach was the best vacation ever. He wanted to get up to go jogging early with me one morning to hunt for the biggest shells that I had found a couple miles down the beach. Lanie and I built a super cool sand castle together, and Rylan was fun to follow to find seashells....for hours!! Josie even snuggled up to me a few times when watching a movie together and hung out with us on the beach at night looking up at the stars. It was fun to be able to be one on one with my kids at different times...and then also seeing them all play together too. This vacation has given us all some fun memories. I think one thing I will always remember is the way the sunshine would reflect a similar shade of golden brown in all my kid's eyes. I have Chemo to thank for that too.