August 9 - “From sea to … yep, that one - Atlantic”

After a late-night, rousing round of putt-putt golf (no idea if there was a winner. Ezra thinks it was Jachin. My best guess was Kel), I think all of us crashed for a much-needed night of sleep. 

For breakfast, Christina went over to Walmart. Eggs and biscuits. Oh! And sausage and cheese. Better’n McDonald’s. 

Our next destination was Virginia Beach. You know, as the song says, “From sea to … “  Yep, that one - Atlantic. 

But we had to make one quick stop first. Walmart. Chuckle. Hey. We were headed to the beach, but Nana and DadDad’s house was a few thousand miles away, so we HAD to get a beach umbrella and some beach toys and some sunscreen. And the big boys (read here, “Kel, too”) HAD to get another package of Magic cards for their most recent game craze. 

So Walmart in Suffolk it was. All went well, except for the umbrella. We walked all over the store, and we were just about to give up and leave, when Christina’s keen eyes spotted three of them - all open and all strapped securely to the display cases for the beach stuff on clearance. Imagine that. Beach paraphernalia on the clearance rack in early August. Kel finally convinced them to sell us one of those display models. Half price. Going to the beach in Virginia is weird.

Speaking of weird, when we finally found a place to park (that took a decade or so), the sand was deep-frying some feet. Then you came to a two-foot abrupt drop-off. Then the sand cooled a bit until you reached the wet line, when it became surprisingly tolerable. And at the water line, the water was actually cool … cold even. Very nice. 

Of course the kids went berserk. They loved the massive waves that broke barely away from the shore. Especially Ezra. He was pummeled time and time again, coming up laughing every time. 

Nana and I set up shop on our chairs under our umbrellas. It was weird. The prevailing wind was from behind us rather than coming off the water. Something gets mixed up in the rules between the Atlantic and the Gulf. That wind helped a lot though. It was mega-hot again. Kel brought us a bucket of water so we could dip our toes in the Atlantic. Nice. The cool water and the sweet gesture. Thanks, Kel. And now we can all say we have been to the actual Virginia Beach. 

We raced the hour and a half back to the condo so we could all take a shower. Last night we were graciously invited to dinner with the Link family. Nice folks. Today we are going to church with them. They also invited us for lunch. Did I mention they are nice folks?

‭‭Mark‬ ‭11‬:‭24‬ says, Therefore I tell you, all the things you pray and ask for — believe that you have received them, and you will have them.

Father, thanks for the hospitality of the Link Family. Bless them. Amen.