We went on vacation. All by ourselves. And it was nothing short of heavenly.

This was the 1st trip the 3 of us have taken since Nicholas was born that didn’t include visiting family, friends, or to travel to a wedding, funeral, or even to tag along on Mommy or Daddy’s business trip.

So, in the sweltering humidity that is August in NC, we packed up our car & headed south – to Tybee Island. None of us had ever been (I know that’s hard to believe since I’m self-proclaimed to be on a first name basis with Paula Deen). After a half-day drive which wasn’t bad at all because the DVD gods blessed our car so Nicholas was entertained the whole way down we arrived in Savannah for a quick lunch & brewery stop before heading onto the island.

We stayed in a home a few blocks off the beach. It was cute & had a swimming pool & a large deck so we could sprawl out & just be. The beach was a 5 minute walk – even with Nicholas in tow- and we got very, very skilled at getting everything and everyone there quickly and without too many tears.

Tybee Island was beautiful. The time our family got to spend there was just as, if not, prettier. We turned off our phones. Ignored the world around us. The people we needed to worry about were right in front of us all week and that was all that mattered. The biggest decisions we had to make everyday were “do we stay at the pool or go to the beach?” and “what bottle of wine should we open next?”. Like I said – heavenly. Nicholas loved the beach. Most mornings he would ask if we could go “build sandcastles” and that “Daddy was best” at helping him build them.

Speaking of the beach, we’ve never seen a beach quite like Tybee. The sand is packed tight like brown sugar and there are no shells. The current is strong – so strong that as the ocean pulls itself back into the sea it leaves lines that are reminiscent of veins in the sand. It was a gorgeous reminder that the water is strong & it will sweep you off your feet if you’re not careful.

It wasn’t until day 4 that Nicholas learned to appreciate the ocean. The 1st few days he was scared of the waves & mostly sat in the dry sand building castles & asking for one of us to hold him down by the water. Then, Andy taught him he could go to the water’s edge & wash the sand off his hands. Just a few days later he went to the edge & Andy started to get up to go after him. I said “Andy, he’s just going to wash his hands; that child is not going swimming.” I should’ve known better than to question Nicholas’ abilities. That child ran straight for the water and he.did.not.stop. Off he went laughing & jumping around as the waves tried to knock him over. After that he loved the water. And I remembered to bring his life jacket to the beach everyday after that.

All in all, it was 7 days of pure heaven. From the breakfasts when Nicholas would pray the simple, yet extremely effective prayer, “Thank you GOD for everything. Amen.” to our time by the pool, climbing the lighthouse, and even to the 1.5 million sandcastles we built it was a week that renewed my soul. It renewed our marriage. It brought about a deeper love for our little family.

Enjoy these photos taken by the extremely talented photographer (& our new friend – you’re welcome anytime in NC!) Shannon Christopher.