Project Life 2012 - Week 40

September 30 - October 6

I returned from Chicago on Monday afternoon. It really was a great trip! I'd never been to the Windy City before and would love to take my boys back there. We didn't really have much time to see the sites, and I know that there is so much to see!

So, I know that I said that I prefer to stay home, but just to totally test my sanity, we planned a family beach trip the weekend after I returned!! Bennett was lucky to have a long weekend, and a few months ago when we asked him what he wanted to do with his long weekend, he said that he wanted to go to the beach with Gigi, Bubba and Evie. Luckily for us their schedule was clear, so we booked a condo and planned our trip!!

Bennett got out of school at 12:40 on Friday, October 5 (just like every Friday - have I mentioned that I LOVE our new school's schedule!!) so he and I headed down ahead of everyone else. I was really looking forward to this time together. 
We planned to get lunch at Chick-fil-@ and then cruise on down.
I was envisioning chatting about our week the whole 4 hour trip... but Bennett hopped right in the back and turned on the TV :)  Oh well. Quality time comes in all forms, right? Ha!

We made great time getting down to Sandestin (we took a new way - didn't really like it), got to our condo, unpacked, and then headed to dinner and to the grocery store.
This is when we got our quality time.
(I called it a date, but Bennett thought that was inappropriate :)

 Here is my handsome date (squinting from the extra bright flash). We were making cootie catchers while waiting for our dinner. Fun times.
After dinner we got our groceries and went back to the condo to put them away. Bennett was the biggest helper the whole time, totally taking a big role in carrying heavy items, opening the doors, etc. It was fun seeing him be so grown up. He even helped me with the massive task of sanitizing the condo - big help!! :)

A memory I never want to forget: 

As we were loading the cold items into the fridge, Bennett said 'Mom, I think that going to W (his new school) has made me think about God a lot more.' 

Me: 'Really? How?'

B: 'Well, I can just think of Him with every day type things.'

Me: 'What do you mean?'

B: 'Well, like with this fridge door. See how it keeps moving away from me when I try to put things into it to fill it up?'

Me: 'Yes'

B: 'Well, that's how it is with God. If I keep moving away from Him, it will be harder for him to fill me up.'

It was one of those moments as a mom that made my heart swell with joy (and one that I wanted to hit the pause button on and just take it all in!!). 

I am so thankful for those few hours that God gave me all alone with my boy. I knew that we had lots of fun ahead of us with the rest of the family on their way, but I was thankful to be able to slow down and realize that even if the rest of the weekend was a bust, the whole trip had been worth it for me already!

But the whole rest of the trip wasn't a bust!!
On Saturday morning we headed to the beach...

and waited for Gigi, Nana, and Evie to arrive. Brad and Bubba had arrived late Friday night, so the boys all played in the sand while I just relaxed. The girls arrived before lunch, so it was perfect! Oh, and the weather was gorgeous!! We couldn't have asked for better!!

More beach photos in the next post...