Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Fun in the Sun and Surf


Greetings from Hilton Head, South Carolina! I don't believe I have ever been to the beach in the summer (and I have been to many different beaches) and not seen a single raindrop or heard a single rumble of thunder. It's day 4 and we have harldy even seen a cloud in the sky! Suffice to say it is absolutely beautiful and we are having a great family vacation!

So far we have played in the ocean, Joey and the kids have ridden some crazy-looking beach bikes, we have shopped, played in the pool, eaten two yummy seafood dinners, watched amazing sunsets (including one while swimming in the ocean), gotten a little sunburned (although not too bad, we've tried to be careful), watched a movie, had a picnic dinner on the beach, watched a fireworks show, and I have even managed to read a good book.

We've also gotten to see lots of really cool sea life. Today at the stretch of beach in front of our villas the lifeguards had to call everyone out of the water because there was a large school of fish swimming by, and they were being chased by sharks. One lifeguard told me that sharks were actually jumping through the water. We were happy to know that they had all passed by toward the other end of the beach! We spent the rest of the day playing in the water with no further scares.

The other evening, as we swam and watched the sun sink behind our villa, we caught several live sanddollars by shuffling our feet across the sand in the water. Of course the girls insisted we come up with names for each one before returning them to the ocean floor, so I trust that now they are all on a first-name basis with one another beneath the sea!

This morning, on a walk down the beach there were tide pools containing live crabs, starfish and more sanddollars, as well as a couple of large jellyfish and a very strange-looking sea worm. Kaelie and Hannah have really enjoyed seeing all these sea creatures so up-close and personal. Tomorrow morning we are going on a dolphin excursion, a small six-person boat that will take us out into the sound to get up-close and personal with the dolphins. We are all really looking forward to that! Once I get home and back to my docking station for my camera, I'll add some photos to my post.

How can anyone come to a place like this and not believe that there is a God, a Creator who designed all of creation? I just cannot even fathom what people must think about how all this came to be! I'm going to end this post now, because who has time to sit around on the computer when there is so much to enjoy just outside the door?!


"How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all, the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number--living things both large and small." Psalm 104:24-25



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