Setting the Scene

I was about to blitz into telling y'all about our week at the beach, but there were several factors leading up to that week that made it sweeter. So in an effort to not forget the weeks leading up to our big family beach vacation, here goes.

1. In mid-April, we found out within about 10 days that my brother's family is moving at the end of June to Manila, Philippines, in an incredible career move, and they will be there for 3ish years. We also found out that Jake's sister's family is moving at the end of the summer back to New Zealand, where my brother-in-law Paul is from. They have been Stateside for about six years, and a great job opportunity became available to them that would allow them to return to Paul's beautiful country.

2. At the beginning of May, I launched 418 Stitches, and in the two weeks before we left town, I either sewed or embellished 13 articles of clothing, including a few shirts we used for a photo op at the beach. I was so thrilled for such a strong start, but it made for a busy few weeks before heading out of town!

3. Jake's busy season of work is the summer, as he is the Director of Orientation at KSU. The first summer orientation was the day before we were due to depart for the beach, which made for a busy work week for Jake that ended up paying off big dividends in a great opening orientation day.

4. Jake turned in his proposal for his dissertation on Saturday, so he was able to NOT DO ANY SCHOOLWORK while on vacation- the first time he could not possibly do anything for school even if he wanted to in over a year. However, it did add more to his week before departure!

5. Prior to our vacation, our family had a stomach virus. Our departure for the trip was delayed by a day as we wanted to have the 24 hours under our belts before possibly exposing any family members. The pediatric nurse assured me that after 24 hours, we could be confident in not being contagious.

Well, this bug was a little more virulent than that, as it ended up hitching a ride with us to St. Simons...

But we didn't know that when we delightedly left the pressures of the prior week behind and headed to St Simons for our last big family extravaganza before the Elliotts go to Manila!