I'm Baaaacccckkkkk

Jon playing "beach golf" while waiting for fireworks

Blowing out his Candles

Soaking up the Sun

Beach Babes!

I really did anticipate blogging about our beach vacation sooner than this, but I have been swamped since we got home. Needless to say we had a GREAT time. St. Simons is one of our all-time favorite places. It poses lots of memories for us. So here goes the play-by-play of our vacation.

First of all, is it just my family or is there anyone else out there who has a tough time getting out of the house for a trip?!?. Our plans were to leave our home around 10:00 a.m. Well, 12:00 p.m rolls around we are finally leaving. I have to be honest, I was really ill. We finally got off and once we were on the interstate good we played our traditional "truck game". It is so fun!!! It is just a silly game my hubby made up a couple of years ago, and we all LOVE it. We always play boys versus girls. Girls won!!! Once we got to St. Simons my sister-in-law and nephews came over to my in-law's condo and we all hung out. The boys spent the night and, of course, the kids went to bed WAYYY past my bedtime.

Day 2 - My sweet boy turned 11. He had been anticipating his birthday and was so very excited. He had been counting down the days, and the day was finally here. I actually woke up early this morning and got out of the condo before everyone woke up. I went to the beach and took my Bible with me. I had some good time with Jesus out there and then I walked along the beach. I got back to the condo and it was buzzing with lots of activity. Alec was so excited about his gifts. He still likes toys, which I am so glad for. I know a day is coming, a lot sooner than I want, that he will no longer ask for toys and will probably want clothes, electronics, etc., but my boy loves Legos and action figures, which makes his mom smile. The 5 of us headed to beach and loved every minute of it. It was fairly crowded. Ashley was all about digging up dirt in the ocean and finding seashells. Hanna played some in the water, but loved building sandcastles. Alec actually enjoyed both. We stayed for quite a while. This is the first time EVER in our marriage that my hubby and I actually laid out on the beach to get some sun. He loves the beach, but more so in the morning and the evening. I love the beach ALL THE TIME. Going to the beach is one of my favorite childhood memories. I think that is where my love for the beach comes from. When I was a little girl my dad would take us to the beach and we would get on floats and ride the waves into shore. We would have to rate the waves - either baby, daddy, papa, or great papa waves. My dad would stay out there in the water with us for hours upon hours. Then we would walk along the beach and hop in different hotels' swimming pools. We called it pool hopping. Sounds redneck I know, but when I think about those times it brings a smile to my face. Daddy was what I like to call a "great vacation dad." Anyway . . . . enough down memory lane and back to our trip. That evening we had ice cream and cake and celebrated Alec's birthday with his cousins and grandparents. We had to get to bed much earlier this night because we had to be up early to run in a race the next morning.

Day 3 - We ran in race and had a great time (refer to Sunshine Festival for more details). We went back to the condo and everyone but the men and my mother-in-law headed to the pool. We had some great "sister" talks while there and the kids loved playing. I have to say my sister-in-law, Holly, is great. She truly is more of a big sister to me than a sister-in-law. Everyone needs to have a Holly in their life. She is really an amazing person and I have so much admiration and respect for her. My other sister-in-law, Amy, had to leave the pool early to go and make her much-anticipated grits and greens. We had an awesome dinner that night and then headed to the beach to watch the fireworks. The tide was in so it was super crowded and the wind was so fierce that sand kept getting in our eyes. The fireworks were great though.

Day 4- My hubby asked me out for a lunch date, so I was DELIGHTED about that. We went to Mullet Bay, just the 2 of us, and ate on the deck. It was a great time. I always love the times when I have all of his attention all to myself! After we got back to the condo the girls and I packed up and met Holly at the pool, while Alec and Jon and the rest of the family played cards. When we got back to the condo we started up Trivia Pursuit. I am ashamed to say that the only category I did well in was Entertainment! I did get one question right about the United Nations. Amy really impressed me with her Trivia Pursuit skills. She is really, really good. I kept asking her, "Where do you get this stuff from?" It was boys versus girls and girls won. It was such a long game though, and when I realized the girls did not need my brain unless there was an Entertainment category I would drift into the living room and visit with my in-laws.

Day 5-We left around lunch so it was home again, home again, jiggity jig. I always say, "I sure do love to go, but I sure love to come home too."

Sorry to bore anyone with the details of my trip. This blogging thing is serving as a journal for me, so I like to be specific, so I can go back one day and relive memories. One other thing that I want to etch into my memory is during our vacation I got to sneak in a few cat naps. During my cat naps both of my sweet girls would come and give me a kiss on my cheek as I was sleeping. What a precious memory - one of my favorites!