A little piece of paradise...

It wasn't the beautiful skies that made it, but boy were they dreamy. It wasn't the never-ending ocean or the dolphins that swam alongside us like friends. It wasn't the sand that enveloped our feet and smoothed them better than the perfect pedicure. But, oh how great that was. It wasn't the hammock that cradled and rocked us to sleep in the ocean breeze. It wasn't the smiles and friendly southern, "hi y'all's." It wasn't even the brightly colored houses standing like soldiers in rows or steel drums humming a lullaby to a sleepy sunset. No, no, our perfect paradise was more than all that.

It was a little girl in swimmys screaming "watch me!" for the fiftieth time. It was crawl marks in the sand. It was bagels and cream cheese on the porch and late night trips to the pool. It was "this drive is taking longer than I thought"s and arms outstretched high when we finally reached our destination. It was 2 girls having a screaming contest in the back seat. It was family pictures with a friend. It was watching my husband smile and snuggle his babies. It was long walks and long little girl talks. It was a day on the golf course cheering for Daddy and big hugs to celebrate. It was my little girl snapping like Mary Poppins to "wake the little man that opens the gate." It was holding hands and smiling faces. It was "I love it here" and "I love you"s. It was time with the ones we love best. It was our own piece of paradise.

Photo courtesy of Mandie Joy Photography.