Congo River

Sunrise at Daytona Shores.  We got up early this morning after a decent night's rest, and some of us were out on the balcony, reading or playing on our devices or surfing.  No, not surfing the waves.  That did take place today, although not by us.  Someday though, that's something Daddy is going to try.

We took a nice walk along the beach today, this time turning southward.  Afterwards, Daddy and Madison spent a good long time on the beach, tossing a frisbee back and forth for a while, and then sitting right there in a tidal pool, watching the waves come in and roll over us.  Afterwards, we were building our own separate sand castles.  Madison was rather proud of hers because it was durable.  The word "durable" is being used in this case because the waves and tides were coming in slowly, and on occasion, the water would move in all around our castles.  Hers was still standing despite it all.  We dug deep sand wells, and soaked our feet in them, and the sun shone brightly overhead.  It was a perfect sort of day.

It was not a perfect sort of day back home, where plenty of very dangerous storms were rampaging across the state.  There were lightning strikes, hail, tornadoes, and flash flooding too.  Though not as bad as the storms just a few years ago, there is extensive damage, and not that much sleep.  Schools were closed, as were some businesses and events, as everyone hunkered down somewhere safe to watch the meteorologists and pray.  What a week Georgia has had.  First, the bridge collapse of I-85, and then this.  One year ago this week...

One of Madison's requirements for a trip to Daytona is miniature golf, so she and Daddy went on an adventure!

Here we are at the bottom portion of Livingston Mountain, on an important quest to find the famed explorer somewhere in the Congo.  Along the way, we figured why not play a little golf as well?  The Masters are planned for this weekend, so we got in a little practice for our future golf hall-of-famer.

Ah, here's a plane crash we came upon.  The plane seems to be intact, although the pilot seems to have had some difficulties.  We played through!

Alas, we did not see Dr. Livingston, but we did have a good time.  It was a tight squeeze, as a storm was approaching - although it did not rain at our condo.  It seems as if the stronger storms were more north of us.  Flagler Beach in particular was under warnings this week.  As we looked northward from the balcony, we could see the darker clouds sweeping in, clear with menace, with lightning and the clearing of the beaches by patrolling lifeguards and police officers.

We got home in time for dinner, and there was time for Mexican Train after that, part one at least.  The whole family joined at the table, playing the game as the sun set over the shores.  It was a nice day, ending a bit later due to the game, but we did have time to read, pray, and give thanks for a nice day today.