Holden Beach 2020 {weekend play}

It's been a half-year, hasn't it?  

On March 13th the kids came home from school just like any other Friday.  But this time come Monday they didn't go back.  News kept rolling in about "the novel Coronavirus" and within days the world changed.  And like pretty much everyone else, spring break/summer vacation plans were altered...for us this would mean no Easter-time trip to Holden Beach to stay at our friend's beach house, no big family summer beach week to either Sunset or Holden with Mama and my sister and her family, no long weekend family reunion at Ian's Dad's place in Rehoboth, and our M8 family bucket list trip to NYC/upstate NY would be put on hold.  

One day short of six months later we finally got to head to the coast to make up for part of what was missed.  

I think sometimes we don't realize just how much surf and sand is good for our souls...

Within minutes months of high anxiety melted (yeah, no doubt it will be waiting for us at the end of the week, but still...) and we all found our happy place in the water, the sand, or where the two meet...

I suspect if we lived here...or even stayed longer than a week...that the magic would wear off.

But there's something disarming about the combo of sun, sand and surf that gives us...even those of us that have a hard time being still...the freedom to relax, inhale and just be.

Sunday was our one full day of play time, and we were blessed with glorious weather.

Sitting in a sand chair, feet propped on a sand bucket, the laughter and collaborative chatter of my people as they planned a fortified city...once again joining in the futile effort of holding back the sea...

It is well with my soul!

Everyone seemed to be aware of the magic of the moment.  A warm day with a gentle breeze, the calming repetition of the surf pounding, water warm enough not to make us shriek when the waves encroached our fortress, no schedule for the day...

And so we built.  

And laughed.  

And soaked in the natural Vitamin D.

A friend who graced our presence for a bit.

With just a quick walk up the boardwalk for sandwiches on the porch, we spent the day on the beach.  It was a free day we all needed...

And it was even a bit magical...for once we built something that survived the night.  We didn't know it yet, but the next morning we'd find our castle defied the tide and was still standing...perhaps a reflection of us as a family in these strange times.