Bright and early on Wednesday morning, we pulled out of Little Rock to head down to Perdido Key. (side note, that auto-corrects to "Period" Key 😱) Six moms, leaving behind 23 kiddos and six husbands with lots of sitters, teachers and other family members filling in the gaps.
We got Starbucks and had lots of snacks on the trip down, which went remarkably smoothly with only adults and no one screaming. It was almost surreal how fast it went, though we did manage to play an entire game of travel Scattergories FTW.
Upon arrival, we made our way to our home for the next four days, which was graciously provided by Marla's parents.
Every morning, we (by *we*, I mean them, because I never actually helped with breakfast) made breakfast hash with eggs. So delicious.
We had a lot of matching items for the trip: towels, shirts and adorable Mommy sippy cups. It's a good way to roll.
Every lunch was a selection of cheeses, meats, fruits, veggies, hummus and crackers, basically an adult Lunchable that I could for sure eat every day of my life. (I actually did help prepare lunch a couple days.)
And while our accommodations were lovely, scenery fantastic and food remarkable, the friends were the best part of this trip by far.
I have shared so much life with these women in the past 10, 7, 6 and 3 years, and I could not be more grateful for each of them and the roles they have played in my life. Each one of them points me to Christ in a different way. As a double bonus, they are all a ton of fun. My cheeks hurt from smiling, and my sides hurt from laughing.
As if to underline God's approval of the whole shindig, we got a sweet rainbow while driving to the airport to see Nicole off to her next adventure.
We had a blast eating out every night for dinner, pretty much on the water almost every night.
Every day was spent on the beach, and it's hard to imagine being more relaxed than we were. There was a lot of napping, reading, chatting and bobbing up and down in the waves. We were all amazed at how peaceful it was to be in the water without children.
Our last night out was at the Flora-Bama Yacht Club whose name sounds fancier than it is by far. But, the Greek Nachoes were excellent, and we enjoyed our last hurrah.
We got up early on our last morning to be able to get back to our families at a decent time. I finally saw the sunrise on the last day.
These five days and four nights will always be a treasure to remember. And coming home was sweet, because my people were glad to see me, and sometimes, absence really does make the heart grow fonder. I can return home with renewed energy and rest to do the tasks before me, even if those tasks are still a lot harder than I might wish for. I'm so thankful for sweet time with these women!
