pool day | x-family vacation.

This year's time at the pool while on vacation was extra exciting, because Ocean Lakes recently built a small waterpark + splash pad beside it, complete with a lazy river! We lined up outside of the gate twenty minutes before it opened (we are dedicated, people), made a mad dash to pick our chairs, and spent the next three hours splishing and splashing. The little boys were too small to play in the kid zone, but that didn't stop them from having fun. Nope, not one bit. They were a couple of little fish!

Us mamas and daddies had fun, too, and we took turns riding the water slide to see how fast we could get to the bottom (the daddies especially loved this part of the day). We even ran into an old friend from high school while we were there, which prompted  TJ and I to do some brief reflecting on how fast time goes by. Nothing makes you feel old like seeing someone you used to walk the halls of high school with and introducing y'all's babies to each other, am I right?!

We rounded out the day with nap time, an afternoon at the beach, pizza for dinner, and chocolate ice cream for dessert, and I loved this particular day more than most of the others. I can't exactly tell you why, but for some reason, I did.

Then again, they were all quite magical.

extracurriculars | x-family vacation.

There are so many things I want to remember about that week spent by the sea with our best buds.

These frames are so much more than pictures, for they tell the story of our days and remind us of what was.

Friends and food and revisiting old places and trying new things and taking it easy and eating chocolate ice cream and laughter and showing some skin and dancing on the pier and snacking all day long and running through open fields and raising future men and breathing in the beauty of every moment.

The say a picture is worth a thousand words, but they're worth much more than that to me.

beach daze | x-family vacation.

Last week was one of the best weeks of our lives, but we knew it would be long before it arrived.

The Halterons (Haltiwangers + Bargerons) took it to another level for our third family vacation this go 'round, spending a week with our toes in the sand and breathing in salty air with each other. Maddox was the water baby and Braxton was the sand baby, and they kept us on our feet all day every day (I know, big shocker). We got up early to beat the heat and to make the most of the few hours before nap time, and our favorite mornings were the ones when the tide was out when we got there and there was lots of room to run and splash.

The big boys played a couple rounds of bocce ball every day, the girls sat with our chairs at the water's edge until the heat became unbearable and we ran through the hot sand to steal some shade from the tent, the little boys did as they pleased and paused every once in a while to get some loving from us, and we all simply had a blast. A blast, I tell ya.

Even between chasing those crazy toddlers around, we did our fair share of relaxing. Some days the boys went back out to the beach during nap time, other days the girls did, and we tag-teamed quite perfectly all week. By mid-week we had already begun to plan our next family vacation! As you can probably imagine, all of us were sad when that last day arrived.

Wouldn't it be nice if weeks like this would just last and last?

pool party.

Summer is full and exciting for everyone, so much so that it's harder to find a time to make plans with the people we regularly hang out with. That being the case, we were thrilled that this past Sunday worked for most of the folks in our community group, and we enjoyed very second of our time in the pool and grilling out together. These people, over the last few years, have become our people. You know, the ones who make you smile the biggest, who encourage you the most, and make you say lots of prayers of thankfulness.

And speaking of prayer, this God-ordained group is a praying bunch, too. If there is ever a need, we always go straight to each other, because of our faithfulness in locking arms and lifting hands on each other's  behalf in the past. TJ and I are so grateful for the blessing of these friends, and I think that everyone else would agree that they are, too.

A beautiful thing happens when friends become family, and we have witnessed it firsthand. What a sweet, sweet blessing! Especially when there is a pool and a grill involved.