Seabreeze 2023!

July 5, 2023 | Stacy

I hoped we’d be back some time, and this weeklong trip in July offered a chance for us to head back to my favorite place.

Getting to these banners and traffic circles stirred up all the joy!

And the beautiful Lake Ontario in the background.

We started in the waterpark.

we stopped on the way to pick up Asher!

And we had Mozzeroni’s pizza delivered!

The weather was outstanding!

And the crowds were so so low that we rode everything we wanted to ride multiple times with very little waits!

We thought we’d stay til closing, but we got to do everything and then some.

If today was my last visit ever there (Oh! I hope not!) then at least it was an amazing day.

Outings–a Second Seabreeze adventure AND HOUSE HUNT HIT

June 26, 2021 | Stacy

Our second Seabreeze day arrived. The four girls and I arrived at park open, and Tab met up with Lauren. We started with the rides we missed Monday. The weather was just as hot as Monday and we found time to fit swimming in today, as well.

Many homeschool friends were here today, just like Monday. What a joy it was to see so many friends.

I’m not going to lie. I was VERY distracted, as it is PAST crunch time on finding a house in SC, and I had to review my phone on an incessant basic.

I joked with my friend Laura, “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head, but I need a place to live and God knows I’m running out of time.”

While waiting for the girls in the water park, I noted a home that could work. It was large and flashy, and it could work. But it felt pretentious and I stood still on it.

Then an hour or so later I saw another house it the market. While it didn’t look anything like what I would have ordered up, it checked off boxes and was very attractive. It was priced on the lower end of our range and it had a lovely backyard.

I texted John and our agent. They were both IN SC. I was in line for the Bumper Cars.

Things fell into place. John and our agent planned to look at it at 6PM. I was at home in time to FaceTime my way through.

An offer was written and we went to bed hopeful the search was over.

Outings – Seabreeze for the memories.

June 22, 2021 | Stacy

As the emails for Seabreeze were coming to my email in box, I ignored them. I erroneously thought they were for the weekend of Johanna’s musical, and we would not be able to go.

Turns out, I was reading too quickly and the Holy Spirit had my back. I caught it just in time to buy tickets for the 25th with our homeschool group.

So why is this posted for the 21st?

OH! Turns out another group of homeschoolers were also going on the 21st.

And if Seabreeze is good enough to squeeze in ONE last time, it is good enough to squeeze in TWO more times.

Having not been in almost two full years, we were eager to see if Katriel was tall enough to ride everything.

She was.

I’m happy she got to experience Jack Rabbit before we moved.

We did waterslides and ran into friends and did waterslides some more.

Stewart, Nigel and Gunnar also went for the day, though we ran into them infrequently.

We managed to leave just as it started to rain, and we encountered a storm of Biblical proportions on the way home.

Meanwhile, I had my phone turned on and alerts turned on and had a power cord and earphone JUST IN CASE A HOUSE went for sale in SC that would work for us.

It did not.

But God is good and He will provide.

That thing where you send your oldest off to college…

August 30, 2019 | Stacy

And it was surprisingly joyous.

Sent this guy off to college today. Do you see his smile? For years I’ve wondered about this day were it to come. Would I hold it together? Would it feel like my heart was being ripped out? I have to say, other than a tear or two I have been fine. I’m sure part of it is that our family has been slowly transitioning into this zone. We got used to him missing meals when he got a job at 15, and he eased into college classes since 16. His schedule has been heavy these last two years as he’s balanced FLCC and 2-3 jobs at a time. This past summer we barely saw him as he went to Costa Rica for 10 days and otherwise worked 60+ hours a week. I think it’ll be the little things that trip us up, but technology will make it easy to keep in touch. I’m rejoicing for how God even made Houghton a possibility. I see the ways God has just totally had his hand on Stewart.
Love you Stewart. I’m praying that you’ll do good AND you’ll do well.
(Oh. And he’s only 90 minutes away.)

These are two drawings Marie had me leave for him in his room.

John and I also attended a message from the President. It was remarkable. I was tremendously blessed.

We headed home, grabbed the rest of the family and used up our last guest passes for Seabreeze with the purpose of getting out of the house and focusing on fun, not the empty spot at the table.

On the way there, Katriel randomly hoped she’d see her friend, Asher there.

And then we did.

And it’s not like we even anticipated it, nor have we run into him there before.

We ordered some pizza and wings.

Tab and Marie tried some Dippin’ Dots.

And we ended our Seabreeze Summer for 2019.

Nigel is 17!

July 2, 2019 | Stacy

It was a wee bit cooler today than it had been and that made it the perfect day for Seabreeze….

See!

It was Nigel’s birthday, so he and Gunnar joined us for the day.

We owned the park and were home for a great dinner.

I can’t believe my baby boy is 17 years old. He brightens our house with laughter and songs. I’m looking forward to seeing how God uses him.

It’s how I roll…

June 19, 2019 | Stacy

I love, love, love Seabreeze. If you’ve been reading my blog you’ll see Seabreeze has been a staple since the early days. Back then I pushed a double stroller with at least a kid or two up and down the hills and laden with our gear.

Today I push a single stroller with all our gear… and my coffee.

I can’t imagine the day that I navigate without a stroller? How will I ever pull that off? LOOK at the stroller!!!

Now look at the smiles.

Viva la Seabreeze!

Also – Tab ran into River and Phoebe today. Love Seabreeze!!

Here comes Seabreeze Fun!

June 7, 2019 | Stacy

We enjoyed our first outing to Seabreeze today. While there were a handful of school groups, we were able to enjoy most of the activities. The weather was fabulous.

Seabreeze prep

May 17, 2019 | Stacy

The girls and I got Seabreeze season passes for the summer. We gave Nan one for Mother’s Day.
We went today to get our passport photos taken and by doing so before they opened for the summer we were given one free pass per person to give to a guest!

Seabreeze, 2017

August 30, 2017 | Stacy

Once upon a time “summer” equaled “Seabreeze” for these disciples. How is it, then, that our family hasn’t been there in a few YEARS and the littlest Butler has no memory of it?

I think it’s a combination of having a pool, having bigger kids getting busier, having the prices more than double from the first year we bought them, and having the big kids get a little TOO familiar with the place.

My work made tickets available for $13 pp for up to six people. A co-worker helped me secure three additional tickets. I got the tickets back in June and we proceeded to sit on them foReVEr!

FLCC classes and Toronto weekend made June a poor time to visit.
Costa Rica and VBS and Prince Edward Island wiped out most usable dates in July.
August found work schedules and camping ruling out most days.

So in the waning week of summer we found a day we could visit. And it was chilly!
To be fair, summer never showed up this year. Oh. It phoned it in a few days, but it never stopped in to stay. Overnight temps were cool for most of August, and the water at Seabreeze reflected this.

BRRRRRRR.

We didn’t spend long in the waterpark. We had some lunch around 12:30 and headed for dry rides. While once upon a time my big kids would have front row seats for the acrobat shows (we’d watch more than one a day), we only paused on our way through to watch them today.

The big four visited a lot of rides on their own, although I did skulk around admiring them from afar time to time.

Hanny got her first ride on the Jack Rabbit.

I can’t know if it was the cool weather or the lateness in the season that made the crowds small. In either case, it benefitted us tremendously as we owned the park.

Nan snapped some photos of the big kids.

And one of the rest of us.

My how we’ve all changed.

We were surprised when at 4:30 P.M. we were pretty much done with all the rides! They’d done each one multiple times and it didn’t make sense just to stay to order a pizza. As John had met us there, he took one van to BJs for some frozen pizza and honey BBQ wings, and I took the other van to Walmart to pick out a bunch of ice creams.

Home for dinner and dessert and the official last day of Butler-summerness-fun.

Ok, school year – here we are.