Putting on shoes again

It’s been a great week at the beach.  When I got here on Saturday afternoon, I took my lace-up shoes off and have not had them on my feet since.  It’s a pretty cool metaphor for the beach now that I think of it.  When we are at the beach, there are really no rules and nothing tying us down.  If we want to eat Oreos for breakfast, we do.  If we want to read books all day and doze in and out under the tent on the beach, we do.  Shoes are so constraining and sometimes life feels that way too.  The beach is just the opposite of all that!  I want to marry the beach.

  

Ok, so that won’t work and I really don’t like sand in every nook and cranny I carry around on my unshod feet.  But I do love being here.  Our family loves to read and we have vary varied tastes.  We decided to take a picture of the books that we read this week at the beach.  Some we read more than once.  It was a great bit of fun and they will smell like suntan lotion for months so we will have great reminders of our time here.

  

We spent a lot of time together as a family just enjoying each other and we talked about a little bit of everything.  We didn’t turn on the tv or do anything touristy (there isn’t anything of that sort at Topsail…which is why we love it here).  We just sat and bared our soles (well, souls, and that might be a stretch but I am trying to work with the shoe metaphor here…gimme a break).  I love my little family and it is so nice to be reminded of just how much on these trips.  There are no appointments to make and no chores to do.  It’s wonderful!

So, tonight as I pack my bags and try to find my socks and shoes, I am a little sad.  Soon we will be back to the grind doing what we always do.  I think of these getaways as almost sacred and everyone knows you aren’t supposed to wear shoes on sacred ground!

6 thoughts on “Putting on shoes again

  1. Well you can always take a few pounds of sand home with you pit it in a container to stand in. That way you can have a vacation anytime…or at least your feet can.

  2. Looks like everyone had a great time at the beach! Isn’t it wonderful getting away from it all! You’ve got to let me know what kind of sunscreen you use because the kids don’t look burned at all. I burn to a crisp which is why I haven’t been back to the beach in years. You sound like my son about the shoes only he wore his pjs all week while we were on vacation! lol I had to bribe him to wear real clothes when we went out.

  3. Angela – We just got spf 50 coppertone sport. We always get spf 30 or higher and get a nice tan rather than burned. It says it is sunblock but we still get some sun.

    GW – we did that one year but forgot about it…smelled awful in 2 weeks or so!

  4. That is how I always feel about vacation, you are making memories.
    I am so sad that these times will be fewer and further in between with our family. I guess we will have to be more intentional through the coming years to coordinate schedules.

    This is the sweet time Warren.

    I can’t read the titles on your books!

  5. Thanks for sharing your family vacation with us! So glad everyone had a great time.
    On the subject of shoes—I take off my lace up/slip on shoes the minute school lets out. We went to Oregon for our vacation and darned if I didn’t have to wear real shoes again (chilly, damp outside). My feet were NOT happy about it.

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