a little OCEAN AIR

sometimes a little OCEAN AIR--and a weekend away--is just what you need.  with my parents being here with us for a month, one of the things they wanted to do for us was to babysit the kids for the weekend so we could get away.  we realized we haven't spent time apart from the kids (other than a few hours here and there for date nites) for about 3 years.  needless to say, we were long overdue for some time away and were really excited for our weekend.

 we had heard that the Ost See (the East Sea, aka The Baltic Sea) was the place to go, so we headed an hour north and landed in a very touristy village on the harbor. 

 we are not the touristy types, but for this weekend it was perfect. we loved it.  all the stores along the harbor were bursting at the seams with typical touristy fare.  check out some common german names above on the license plates.  and here's a little game for you--above you will find my brother's first name.  hint: his name isn't harry. another hint: he was born in california and he is in no way german.

this made us smile.  marion is one of our mutual friends who is also one of our blog readers.  what's cool is that right behind her name is her son's name, mario.  see, marion, even while on vacation on the Baltic Sea we are thinking of you! 

after we scoured the toursit traps, we were hoping that there was more to the Ost See, as certainly this could not be 'it.'  so we headed north along the harbor, took a left, and came upon this.  ah!

not a touristy shop to be seen, but lovely beach homes and

mini lighthouses

and beach baskets,
 called Strandkorb, that you can rent
(click above to learn more)

and yes, plenty of seashells on the seashore. 

we noticed people biking up and down the coast, so we thought we'd rent some bikes and go exploring.

that was the best decision of our weekend.  we rode along high cliffs over looking the water.  we pulled over and sat in one of the Strandkorb like good germans would do, 

and enjoyed a bratwurst while soaking in the beauty.  after lunch, we continued on until buddy stopped.

he said,

look!

and there in front of us, overlooking the depths of the sea was this rock:

i figured it said something like

the waves in the sea

are BIG and mighty,

but the Lord on high

is BIGger still

"Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,

mightier than the breakers of the sea—

the LORD on high is mighty."

Psalm 93:4

on the train ride home, we were savoring our last minutes together.  our weekend was filled with deep talks and deep laughter and it was just plain good for our souls.  we love our children with a passion--yet sometimes, you just have to take a little breather and have some OCEAN AIR.

t h a n k  y o u

 mom & dad

for giving us such an incredible weekend!