Over the holiday weekend, my cowboy and I headed down to Grand Isle, LA to celebrate the birthday of America the Beautiful. As I’ve mentioned before, Grand Isle is a 7.8 mile barrier island at the mouth of Barataria Bay where it meets the Gulf of Mexico. Since my parents purchased their camp almost 3 years ago, we have headed down the bayou each summer, casting our troubles to the wind and waves as we cross the bridge to the island.

Life on the island is simple and that is what we needed after this busy year.

Enjoying some coastal views was exactly what the doctor ordered.

My older sister Emily is visiting from Southern Florida for the summer and we spent each morning walking around the community and taking in the peace of the waves.

I soaked up every second I could with my sister as I don’t see her but a few times a year.

Sister snuggles are absolutely the best. Unfortunately we were missing our younger sister Lydia who is a Naval Lieutenant stationed in Seattle, WA. She was on duty for America’s birthday celebration but she was with us in spirit.

Although I had lots of sister bonding over the long weekend, me and Andrew enjoyed some much needed down time together.

Since March, we have acquired a new house on acreage with lots of unexpected issues and rescued 4 animals, large and small. Between the mounting financial and emotional stress and the new farm routines, we knew it was time for a vacation and were looking forward to this short break more than anything.

As much as we love our new farm and animals, it was nice to disconnect from the house projects and the animal responsibility for a few days. We understand the importance of giving ourselves a break from life every now and then.

Since we were on the Gulf coast, what would vacation be without a crab and shrimp boil?!

I have a few cousins that live on the island and some that have a camp. This weekend my cousin Russ boiled a batch of fresh Louisiana crab and shrimp for the neighborhood gang. It was boiled to perfection!

Not only did we dine on delectable seafood, we had these adorable munchies. How cute are these? I know a Pinterest post when I see one!

Making memories on the island each year is something I hold near and dear to my heart. These are the years my Mom, who has battled metastatic breast cancer since 2007, is still with us. Out of respect for her wishes, I don’t share pictures of her on this blog but I wanted to share how important this piece of paradise is for our family. We won’t get this time back with her. Realizing how significant each day truly is with my Mom allows us to appreciate every moment. One day, we will look back on these occasions and feel blessed to have such beautiful memories with her at the camp in Grand Isle, a place she loved and savored during the battle for her life.

Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you’ll look back and realize they were BIG things.