I keep thinking that things will slow down. That we will settle into some sort of peaceful pattern of normal days. Perhaps that is coming, but it isn't what our life has been recently or even for most of the summer. The past week or so has been wild. Travel, violent sickness, 2 trips to the ER, stitches ... well, you get the idea. I'll try to post more on that when I have some photos to share. ( I've been working on this past for 3 days in the midst of some computer problems and am hoping it is coherent.)
For now, I'm still reflecting. So much of the summer months I didn't post. Life was just too busy. I do like recording things though as I'm so behind in my scrapbooking that I may never catch up.
One sweet moment in our summer was a quickly planned and put together family vacation. To Wildwood. To visit Christopher! We headed out in the morning and stopped at a rest area for a picnic lunch.
Didn't get a great arrival picture - but we were all thrilled to get there and to see Christopher.
See where he was living. (Though he did not want me to see his room. One of his brothers saw it though and told me that "it was disgusting". LOL )
Christopher spent the summer in Wildwood on a summer project with CRU. (Campus Crusade for Christ) I was excited for him when he told me he wanted to do this. I did one too - 25 years ago. It was life changing. I've been praying it would be for him too.
It was wonderful to have days to hang out. And to meet some of his friends.
We spent one day at the beach which was quite different that our beaches in many ways. MANY more people and the widest beach that I have EVER seen!!!
No matter the differences, it was just perfect.
A place to play and run (with Alex also an NCSU student).
To explore.
To build.
To laugh.
Just having fun.
(Did I mention that Christopher has great friends who were tons of fun to hang out with and everyone loved playing with them!) And Lia was a really good sport about all of this!
Christopher spent the summer learning more about Treasuring Jesus.
And how to share his faith. How to live and have an impact on the world.
We rented a condo while we were there. Perfect for being able to prepare our own meals and to have some down time too. Of course spending time with Christopher was always our favorite thing to do.
While we were there we visited the Cape May County Zoo. It was wonderful - and free! Lots of interesting animals. I do have lot of animals photos, but not showing them all since this is such a photo heavy post.
Yeah, she found the one puddle there. Enjoyed stomping in it. And then sat in it. LOL
Our one family photo from the trip.
We enjoyed having 3 of Christopher's friends join us. (Riley, Kelly and Kelly)
One of the nights we attended a CRU meeting with praise and worship, games and a message. It was great and I loved being able to see more of what Christopher was doing and how he was spending his time there. Makes it so much easier to pray specifically.
This is a picture from the boardwalk of the beach. Can you see the ocean WAY out there? Its so far away!!! Widest beaches ever! They were holding a soccer tournament on the beach one of the days we were there. Multiple games going on too!
We wanted to see where Christopher was working and so we headed down the boardwalk to Morey's Piers one morning.
Christopher took days off of work while we were there so we didn't see him working and instead just got to hang out with him. We were able to see some of his friends working there though.
Joshua taking a turn at one of the games.
And Daniel.
Another afternoon at the beach. Can you ever spend too much time on the beach? It is hands-down my favorite place to go with family. Its just easy and fun for everyone!
We visited Sunset Beach one evening. Christopher insisted that we go and I'm so glad that we did. Its on the end of the peninsula of New Jersey and facing west.
The sunset was amazing.
Unfortunately, Christopher wasn't able to go with us, but the rest of us had a great time.
We parked near this WW II Lookout Tower. It was closing as we arrived, but we promised to come back the next day to check it out before we left.
It was one of three towers in the area. It was used for keeping an eye out for German u-boats. We had a fabulous tour of the tower and learned a lot about the war on the home front.
View of the Cape May lighthouse from the tower.
We left early and went by to say good-bye to Christopher. Always hard to say good-bye to someone you love.
After leaving the tower, we went to see the lighthouse. We didn't have much time to spend there as we had a ferry to catch too. We saw an old WW II bunker on the beach! How neat is that? Roger, Daniel and Joshua went to take a closer look. You aren't able to go inside of it unfortunately.
Jawbone from a whale.
Isaiah and I checked out the lighthouse.
We took the ferry from Cape May, NJ into DE. It was a very nice ferry! We had a picnic lunch and then spent time exploring.
We saw a couple of lighthouses on our way to DE.
Next stop Assateague Island. I wanted to see the wild horses! We have read about these over the years and it was great to visit the Island. The National Parks visitor center is also really nice.
On to Chincateague Island next. We walked to see the lighthouse there. I really love lighthouses. Something about them intrigues and fascinates me.
Finally heading home. We drove over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It is HUGE! In places it was like being out in the ocean as all you could see was water all around. There were tunnels under the water in places too. It was neat. We did stop at one of the rest areas on the bridge. Can't see much of what is behind us though (ship).
It was a long ride home with lots of stops. Fun to see things though.
Mostly, I was glad to have time with Christopher. To experience some of what he is experiencing. To meet and spend time with some of his friends. To hang out and love on him. I love you Christopher! I miss having you home, but am so very excited for all of the opportunities that you have for learning and growing and drawing closer to God!
Thankful for time with family. Always thankful for time with family.
with love
Leslie
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