Retreating...

Still in October (well, okay, we were almost out) the ladies at our church held a retreat at a beach nearby.  It was so nice to get away and visit and relax and grow closer to these amazing women and, more importantly, to God!  The theme was on organizing and time management.  I learned a lot and got my focus back on what was most important.

I also got some beautiful pictures!

Sunrise our last day!

The wind was blowing the top part of the sand along.  It looked like we were walking in a mist.  Only it stung a little.

These two silly ladies were a part of our group and just had to get in the water.  They said it was warm.  Until they got out.

We found a ton of shells.  Here is a little shell graveyard and I found the perfect spiral shell.  I picked it up to take with us.  We walked two steps.  M. said, "Ew, that stinks!"  I smelled it and she was right.  I tried to wash it out but it was no use.  The shell, along with whatever had crawled up inside and died, stayed on the beach.

I think these birds were begging for something to eat.  They let me get really close before they walked away.   I should have brought some bread and I could have had them eating out of my hands!

Now, here's the coolest part.

We were in the migrating path of some Monarch butterflies!

They were all over this walkway as we made our way to the beach. And, they were all over the beach too!  It was an amazing sight to see so many butterflies.

Just a handful of them as we came on to the beach.  There were so many that we all just kept snapping pictures hoping to get the best shot.  I got a few that I thought turned out well.

That was one that landed on a sand dune as we were walking on the beach.

My favorite picture by far!

I don't think this was a butterfly.  I believe it was a moth.  Either way, he was right in the middle of the butterflies and I thought he was quite interesting.

Unfortunately, I totally forgot to take pictures of the house, the wonderful women present, or all the amazing food we ate!  But it was all there and it was a blast!  Mark was Super Dad while I was gone no doubt!