I always ask myself a million questions before I post anything on social media... is what I’m going to say offend anyone, uplift anyone, be of interest to anyone and so on... and I often forget the reason I wanted to share in the first place. I forget that this is my space, or I should say, our family’s space to capture the moments that are precious to us, that make us who we are, that inspire us or challenge us to accomplish greater things, to have the courage to live outside the box. I also love to look at and create beautiful content. So with that being said, if you feel like following along our adventures, let me share with you a few we had this summer!
For a whole week in July we actually managed to get away and spend some extra special time with some friends of ours. Let me just say how special it is that we actually managed to book a whole week off and that all three families could do it at the same time. My husband owns a in-ground pool company so summers are usually a ‘no vacation’ time for us. But this year was different for us since we would be travelling with our ‘home’ so Jeremie could squeeze in a few hours of work in the RV if needed while I played on the beach with the kiddos. As for the two families accompanying us, both husbands work as security agents and rotate between night and day shifts and 12 hours shifts and what not... so finding ourselves all together at the same place and at the same time was nothing short of a miracle!
Of course getting there was not as simple as we thought it would have been. We have learned that nothing is with our RV. We are slowly learning to treat him as the 7th member of our family, and learning that he too has a mind of his own and like to do thing on his own terms(pretty fitting with our family don't you think?). It had been a while since we had travelled so as usual we had accumulate a few things that just doesn’t belong when you’re on the road, so a little purging was necessary. While Jeremie was suppose to fill our tank with propane, I was to go drop our SUV off at the garage with the kids and wait for him to pick us up. Unfortunately one of the berings was leaking so he now had to meet up with our mechanic to remedy the situation... about 3 hours later, he finally picked us up! We had had time to have ice cream cones, play at the park, then have sandwiches and salad and then drop off the car... I was feeling just a tiny bit edgy as we finally headed off to our camping destination.
We had reserved the last spot on the beach at Fitzroy Provincial Park and it was just beautiful. Our friends had managed to book a ‘supreme’ site that was right on the Carp River so we had the best of both worlds: access to the beach or access to the river and all its wildlife creatures. We spent our first morning there playing by the river, catching minnows, river snakes, crayfish and even leeches. We ate when we were hungry, no need to interrupt our hours of exploring. Kids were muddy and happy and so were we! It’s going back to the basics and enjoying the small pleasures of life that makes camping so special to us.
The next day we enjoyed the beach, made sandcastles, took a nap in the afternoon and went on a hike. We shared every meals with our friends and the kids couldn’t wait for night time to come so they could catch fireflies! Our site was close enough to the beach so that after we had our dinner the kids would go back for a swim as the sun was slowly making place to the moon and everyone else had retired to their sites for the night! These night time swims will last a lifetime in my memories!
On Thursday our other friends came to join us and then again we spent the day on the beach... it was then that I had this ‘reflective’ moment. There we were all gathered together... we had been friends since childhood, we had known each other before all of us were actual couples... some of them actually met because of us. We attended each other’s weddings, gathered together when each of us had new babies and here we were now, occupying half the beach with our towels, umbrellas, strollers, coolers, babies and kiddos! Life had been good to all of us. Crazy to see all that the last couple of years had brought into each of our lives. We we’re blessed beyond words and gathered together to take it all in! We had an amazing day, shared another wonderful meal, gathered around the campfire while the kids chased their beloved fireflies or went for one last swim before bedtime! It was a week to remember... and hopefully to do all over again next summer!
As I write this, it is officially "back to school" day for most of ours friends... for us, homeschoolers, it doesn't mean a whole lot but one thing I hope I can keep with us as summer is slowly transitioning to fall is a little of this "vacation rhythm" ingrained in our days... and I challenge you to try to do the same!
I'm leaving you with this quote from the book I am currently reading:
Inevitably, a life of hurry can become superficial. When we rush, we skim the surface, and fail to make real connections with the world or other people. When things happen to fast, nobody can be certain of anything, about anything at all, not even about himself. All things that bind us together and make life worth living-community, family, friendship-thrive one the one thing we never have enough of: time.
Let's make time!!!!