Recharging at the Coast

This weekend we were given a wonderful gift.  And it was given to us by complete strangers!  With a tip from Dorina, we discovered this incredible website that connects pastors, missionaries and chaplains with Christians all over the country who own multiple homes.  After a brief application and background check, we were welcomed to stay in a GORGEOUS cottage near the coast by some brothers and sisters in the Lord, who wanted nothing from us, but to bless our family and give us rest.  We had a few days off school, so this long weekend was spent reading, hiking, stargazing, meeting friends at the aquarium, and exploring the super fun property our generous home owners shared with us.

  

The girls rode down a zip line our cottage had about 127 times...and spent a lot of time climbing and getting stuck up in the tree house.

It was so wonderful to have a whole mini-house to stay in!  The girls' room was a loft, with skylights right above each of their single beds.  They fell asleep looking out at the twinkling stars.  Ella even saw a shooting star!   We were definitely blessed!

Our first full day of this getaway was spent hiking around Point Lobos in Carmel.  The scenery here is unsurpassed in beauty.  The ocean was a dazzling turquoise color and, on this particular day, the sun was warm and the skies clear and blue.

Even the seals seem to agree that this piece of land is the place to be!

With some binoculars, we were even able to watch a couple gray whales spouting and lumbering by!

 I love that they still hold hands!

In one park and in one day of hiking, you get the whole coastal experience.  We saw dramatic coastline, we played in the sand on the beach, we strolled through an other-worldly cypress grove, and we explored tide-pools teeming with little creatures while huge waves crashed on the rocks behind us.  As we walked, Dave and I talked about the surprise and delight we still feel that we get to live near such an incredible area!

The next day we had big plans to meet our good friends Jeff, Amy, Jonathan, Grace and Benjamin at the aquarium.  We are very thankful that they made the drive just to hang out with us!  We shared a wonderful aquarium day with our friends, once again marveling over the dancing octopuses, the graceful jellies, the lurking hammerhead sharks, and the splashy bat rays.

The scuba diver feeding fish in the Kelp Forest was dressed up for Valentine's Day and posing for pictures.

Girl selfie in the wave cave!

After the aquarium, we spent the afternoon visiting our Monarch butterfly grove and doing more tide-pooling/rock climbing/playing at the beach.  It's February, so I did not even think to pack bathing suits, but the day was so warm and pretty, the girls actually wanted to cool off in the ocean!  This adventure started as toe-dipping, and of course, led to fully soaked clothing.  And also, a big bummer of a parking ticket.  (Just so you don't think our weekend was too perfect! :)  Oh well!

We all have that warm, happy feeling of being rested and recharged now.  And it's thanks to some new friends who gave us the gift of hospitality, some old friends who made a big effort to spend quality time with us, and a great Creator who makes and shares beautiful things just for His glory and our pleasure!