Thank Heavens for Family!

Last week our family escaped to the Oregon coast for our very FIRST, yes I said first, family vacation! Yes, we have travelled a lot... but we have never taken a trip by ourselves.  We weren't visiting friends or meeting up with anyone during our trip. It was just us... And absolutely needed and overdue. We are SO thankful to our sister and brother-in-law who hooked us up with their time-share in Seaside so we could enjoy a great location right on the beach.

As soon as we arrived, we hit the swings and grabbed lunch with Nana and OoOo before they headed back to town.  Since we split the time-share slot with them, they enjoyed the first half of the week.  It was a wonderful overlap with them!

Bentley and Harper adored the carousel and asked every day to go see the horsies.

We took a family ride in a beach surrey... it was pretty fun... for the first 30minutes.  Once we realized the kids weren't going to last forever in their seats and the thing had no gears... we returned it and opted for running around town a bit more before dinner and bed.  It was a good try ;)

Seaside is well known for it's old school arcade.  The kids loved it, of course!  All the flashing lights, buttons and loud music.  The basketball hoops were calling Jeremy's name and Bentley wanted a shot too!

Harper tried her hand at the classic game of skeeball, one of my childhood favorites!

Running is what theses kids do best!!

My love!

Our family took a day and drove down the Oregon coast to visit Jeremy's grandparents in South Beach.  It was extremely special to be able to visit granny and grandpa Lyle at their home.  We took the day to make the drive and we needed every stop along the way with two energetic kids in tow!

We enjoyed visiting the aquarium in Newport... it truly gave us some of our favorite memories with the kids on the trip.

Our kids got THE biggest thrill from walking through the underwater tunnels... Their sheer amazement and overt reactions to every shark and large fish that swam above or below them was priceless.  Our kids had NO shame to lay themselves as flat as pancakes on the ground to get the best glimpse of the creatures... no matter who had to walk around them.  Jeremy and I both said the memory is etched in our minds forever!

Our last stop on the coast was to the Tillamook Ice Creamery...  Our kids had so much energy pent up from the drive (did I mention that?) that they truly didn't need any sweet treat to keep them moving... but that would just be CRUEL, wouldn't it?  We all enjoyed every last lick and bite ;)

Jeremy and I always feel extremely successful when we can get a few runs squeezed into a trip... especially when it means taking turns in order to have some quiet, peaceful time by ourselves.  This was the first foggy morning run that I got... running and prayer time... it couldn't have been more perfect.

Family time is always precious, especially when we can pause and enjoy moments like these.  

In a season of life that can feel so overwhelming, tiring and nonstop... Jeremy and I are so thankful for every moment of time and space that we get to be quiet, intentional and together.  We are richly blessed and filled up on sweet, sweet aromas of family.