The Last Drops of Summer

We had planned a trip to the coast weeks ago.  At the time it didn’t seem like a big deal that it was the weekend before school started–obviously I would just get everything done ahead of time.  Ha!  Who knew we’d have such a roller-coaster ride when it came to finding a pre-school for Lamp?  Luckily we found a great one, but the running around to make it happen was never ending and by Friday afternoon I was exhausted.

I thought It’s too much, lets not go.  We’ll do it another time.  On top of that there was a 30% chance of rain in Corpus–I sorta hoped this would be the excuse I was looking for to cancel and do it another weekend.  But, we needed it.  And I knew we needed it.  So we went.

We spent Saturday morning and early afternoon at the beach and it looked like this:

Do all kids love the beach this much?  I think so.   A giant swimming pool and rinsable mud…nature is so smart.  My girls could do this all day, every day.  The waves, the sand, the sun.  Mix it up, rinse, repeat.  The rain eventually did come, but we had 4 glorious hours and we were spent.  Afternoon ‘naps’ and an evening meal of deep-fried seafood and ice cream sealed the deal on a perfect day.

The only downside, was that maybe one of the adults in this family–perhaps male–may have accidentally grabbed the expired sunscreen when doing a mid-day reapplication and uh…there may have been some dire consequences due to this slight oversight.  Ouchy.  Seriously, pay attention to that expiration date.

*****

Since we were too charred the next morning to return to the beach we were just going to head straight home.  But then, we thought…maybe not.  Maybe we should take that scenic drive we talked about.  That was a good decision.

First we hit up a few of the more picture worthy sights in Corpus.  How could we not stop for these photo ops?

Yes.  A giant mermaid sandcastle fountain flanked by seashells and dolphins.  It’s no Trevi fountain, but pretty awesome in it’s own right.  And please, raise your hand if you love a giant shark mouth.  Yeah, I think that’s everyone.

But giant mermaids and sharks were no competition for what came next…

I’m no photographer, but the light, the light!  Fit for a choir of angels it was.  The light, the clouds, the land and my loves made this place magical.  This is Padre Island National Seashore, a 70 mile stretch of undeveloped beach that you’re allowed to drive on, camp on, play on, whatever and it is practically untouched.  Yes there were other campers and people about, but we only went a mile or two in.  It was beautiful.

The only thing more magical was the full rainbow that appeared before our eyes on the drive there.

Dude, mother nature wins every time amIright?
I keep thinking how lucky we were to be there at the right time when all these magical moments practically threw themselves at our feet.  But sometimes in life we get lucky.  Sometimes, all we have to do is show up.