Beachside Babysitting

Some people take classes during the summer, some people start jobs, some people just chill and do next to nothing.  While two of those three apply to me now, they didn't last month when I had the privilege of being a beach babysitter. TWICE.  Hard life right? :)

The first trip was with my friend/mentor/role model Shannon Stewart, her husband Jon, and their three precious girls.  I had my last exam of sophomore year the morning of April 29, came home to Tennessee that night, spent Saturday unpacking and repacking my things, and then left for Fort Morgan on Sunday morning! It was a fast turn-around, but being able to relax on the beach after a week full of exams was just what the doctor ordered.

Capturing a picture was quite impossible!

The general schedule of the days had us all going to the beach in the mornings, coming in to give the kids baths (literally, they would be completely covered in sand), eat lunch, naptime, hang out, go out for dinner, and then bedtime.

As I mentioned before, Shannon has three girls: Carlee Hayse is three, and Stella and Addie are now almost twenty-one months I think. Yep, they're twins....does this trip sound crazier yet? These girls are a hoot (Chi Omega pun intended of course, Shannon is a sister!) and we were all in endless laughs the whole week.  A couple of cute Carlee Hayes quotes:

"At night I use Colgate, but in the morning I like to use Crust." (she meant Crest)

"Mommy, Daddy, the weather is forecasting!"  (pointing to a map of the United States)

Needless to say I had a BLAST.  For me, the best part of the trip happened after we put the girls down for bed and Shannon, Jon, and I sat out on the back porch and just talked about life.  And laughed.  And vented.  And convinced me to start a blog.  You know, normal stuff.  I stated earlier that Shannon was a role model of mine, and it's for that very reason.  Not only do we do the typical "Starbucks run with your mentor", but she just does life with me.  Whether at the beach or at her home in Jackson, she constantly encourages me to live daily for the Lord.  And let's not forget about Jon, he makes all of it possible by being an all-star dad keeping the girls while Shannon is out with me, or just offering words of wisdom when the conversation calls for it.  Basically, I love the Stewart family, crazy girls and all.

The next beach trip I got to take was about three weeks later, right after the NAIA National Golf Tournament.  When I say right after, I literally mean right after.....I got back from Illinois at 8pm and was in Nashville at 7am the next morning to hit the road.  Nothing like sleeping in the car the whole way right? It was perfect. :)

We took this exact picture last year!

This trip was with Heather and Michael Russell, and Anita and Michael Sloan to Hilton Head!  The two couples have been friends since college.  Heather and Michael used to live in Jackson and go to Fellowship, so that is where I go to know them.  The Sloans live in Nashville (where the Russells now live) and we first met three years ago when I first traveled with them to the beach.  That's right, I am so blessed to have  been asked to go to the beach with these amazing families three years in a row! 

The Russells have two boys:  Preston is seven (he had a birthday while we were there!) and Carlisle is four.  The Sloans have two girls:  Ava is six and Anna is two and a half.  At least I think I got those ages right...parents, I apologize if I am wrong! 

Think back to when you were growing up.  How many times did you hear the phrase, "My goodness! You're getting so old!"  I still hear it to this day as a twenty year old.  Well, let's just say I completely over-used that phrase the first day I was with these kids.  Because the Russells just moved to Nashville this past year, I was used to seeing them when I came home for a visit.  However, it had been a full year since I had seen any of the children, and TWO years since I had seen little Anna (she didn't come to the beach last year).  To put it in perspective, the last time I had spent any time with her she was six months old and spitting up peas.  Now she's two and a half and running and talking and swimming and singing and......you get the picture. It's crazy.

Sweet kiddos!

Our general schedule for the days was pretty simple for me: free time until about 2:30.  Yep, you heard me right.  I literally could lay on the beach, read at the pool, go shopping, or take a bike ride as long as I was back in time to watch the little ones for their nap that afternoon.  It was amazing.  Usually the parents would leave for dinner around 6pm, and my responsibilities for the night would be to feed the kids dinner, get them in bed, clean up the condo, and then just chill until they came home!  Once they did, I really enjoyed my time to get to just hang out with them.  Whether it was making fun of Michael Russell and his music tastes (he knows we love him), or gawking at the gypsies on TLC with Heather and Anita, I'm so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life that invite me into their lives. 

Not only is it fun to lay in the sun, but there's something about being at the beach that makes you slow down and appreciate life.  I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I am about to be a junior in college, and my summer life has sped up drastically since returning from my trips.  My two weeks spent in front of the ocean just allowed me to forget about that for a while.  I got to forget about work, preparing for rush, painting a house, and summer classes, and just praise the Lord for the blessing of the past year.  And pray for the upcoming one.  While it shouldn't take a beach to make me slow down and do that, it certainly helps.  Thank you Shannon, Jon, Heather, Michael, Anita, and Michael for giving me a little piece of tranquility to end my academic year and start my summer.

So, when are we going back? :)

Becca