Back to Reality!

Unfortunately all vacations must come to an end, so Sunday we bid farewell to St. George Island and made our way home. I think I could have stayed for an entire month. I think St. George has been our favorite beach vacation so far. We hope to return again at some point in the future. It truly is a vacation from the hectic world we live in. We did cook, wash dishes, and wash clothes, but the rest of the time was sitting on the beach, playing in the pool, fishing, reading, watching t.v., playing the ds nintendo, and taking a few naps.

I won't forget our fishing trip that Kevin chartered with a guy at Indian Pass. It was planned for Friday morning. I agreed to go as long as they had a bathroom close by the dock. If you have had several babies, you will understand where I am coming from. Well, Kevin checked it out and asked if there was a restroom. The lady told him, "yes, there's one at the dock." The lady also told him we would be fishing on the bay and we would fish for fish we could eat. We finally get there and I asked Kevin to find out where the bathroom was, so I could take care of that issue before we got on the boat. He came back to the car and said, "Karen, there's your bathroom over there." Oh yes, it was a port-a-potty. I could just imagine how long it had been sitting there. I survived and decided I had been in one in Atlanta when I participated in the Peachtree Road Race that had smelled worse. So we all loaded onto the boat, ready to catch some big fish! Well that little boat carried us out into the gulf, not the bay. After about 30-40 minutes, Aaron starts whining about his tummy hurting. To be honest, I think all of us were a little on the nauseated side. You couldn't stand up on the boat without getting knocked around by the waves that were tossing the boat around. After two and a half hours of fishing, Kevin had caught one shark. The guy must have felt bad because he started fishing for sail cats (catfish) and by the time our time was up, the kids had caught 10 sail cats. The guy would cast the line, hook the fish, and then let the kids do the rest. We enjoyed our little trip, but I think we were all exhausted. I slept for about 3 hours when we got back to the house.

We got a late start to our day on Saturday, but we packed a lot in after lunch--beach, swimming in the pool, riding bikes, cooking catfish, pictures on the beach at sunset, and washing laundry. Saturday was a big day for me because I finally tackled something that I have wanted to work on for a long time. All three of my kids know how to swim. Their mother, however, has been dog paddling for years with a fear of putting her head in the water. This has bothered me forever, but I never have been able to overcome this fear. Since we had a private pool at the house where we stayed, I decided this might be the week for me to work on this issue. It took me all week to work up the nerve to put my head in the water. Well, Saturday, with my three little encouragers in the pool with me, I put my head down and swam. I think they were as excited as me. I enjoyed this sweet time with them. What a blessing my kids are to me!

Well, I truly hated leaving Sunday morning. I love the beach. I love to sit and listen to the waves roll in. It's so peaceful! When I am sitting there, I can't help thinking about how big our God is and how great He is! On a funny note, if I was planning life for Kevin and I when the kids are all grown up, it would be for Kevin to get a job on a cruise liner(such as Disney), and then retire and live on St. George Island. Hey, nothing wrong with dreaming! You can tell where my favorite two vacations have been.

So Monday morning, we were back to reality. The girls are enjoying a week of basketball camp and today we got to spend a few hours at the pool with friends. I am savoring these summer days!