spring break in Georgia

We had plans to go to Georgia over labor day weekend, but then a hurricane went and rolled through, and Christopher's grandma passed away, so we postponed our trip.  Thankfully because of the hurricane we were able to change our flights without any fees, and got to use the tickets to get away over spring break.

I'd have to say this was one of the more relaxing trips we've taken to the island.  I'm not sure why, but it just was.  Travel went pretty darn well despite having to leave for the airport at 4am.  Our days typically went beach, home for lunch, pool while Thea napped, shower and head out to dinner.  Certainly not a bad life to be living.  Things to note, as usual I had a couple of non sleepers who were up before the sun, so Ryann, Elsie and I walked the beach one more to watch the sun rise.  They weren't as impressed as I hoped they would be, but it was fun and beautiful!  Also, the last time we were in Georgia Thea was a total beach lover.  This time she absolutely refused to walk on the sand in her bare feet.  She kept walking around saying "eeew! eeew! eeew!" and crying until I put some shoes on her.  We grabbed a pair of water shoes at Target, but like almost every other pair of water shoes we've ever tried (with all three girls!), they gave her blisters.  Oh and feeding the birds was a new one this time, I hated it, the girls loved it.  Surprise surprise.

Tried really hard for a good sister picture in their mermaid suits.  This is as good as it was going to get!  Thea was absolutely not having any of it.

They're still pretty dang cute though.  :o)

 

Someday I hope we'll vacation other places than just Georgia.  But we certainly love going to the island, and have such a good time when we're there.  Thea found a bucket in the garage recently, and has been walking around the house 'looking for seashells'.  I can't wait to go back again this summer!

georgia vacation part two

Continuing where I left off...

Tuesday morning I went for a run.  The day seemed like it was going to be a gloomy one (it was supposed to rain the entire time we were there, and never did!!), so we opted for a short walk to the park instead of going to the beach.  This particular park had a new play structure put in since the last time we were there and it didn't disappoint.  The thing was HUGE!  Again, more slides I was scared of.  Not in the picture is a whole bunch of other spinning things and such that my sister and I enjoyed as well.

After the park we split up, my mom, Elsie, my sister and myself doing a little shopping, and Christopher and Ryann heading to the library.  The rest of the day was spent hanging out at the house, going to dinner, and getting some Moo Cow ice cream.

Wednesday was our last day so we decided on some more beach time.  Unfortunately the tide just wasn't in our favor this beach trip, so we were never able to just walk to the beach by my parents house.  Thankfully east beach is always accessible so we weren't out of options.  It is just slightly more annoying to have to get in the car, and the walk to and from the car from the beach is kind of miserable.  It is in some sort of no air flow vortex thing, I have no idea, but it is stupid hot in that little stretch of land.  We still managed to have a good time though.

Thursday morning, the trip home was... interesting.  We had to leave for the airport at 7am, so I told my mom to wake Ry up by 20 till (Ryann sleeps in my mom's closet, it's the size of a small room, it works :o).  I was getting things ready and texted her at 6:45 to make sure they were up.  She responded with 'yes, and Ry just threw up'.  Oh well isn't that just fantastic?  Just what I wanted to hear before several hours of travel.  I went up to check on them and Ry said she was fine.  So we carried on, got everything loaded up and headed out.  10 minutes from the airport she threw up again.  Whyyyyy.  When we got to the airport I changed her clothes, we got checked in and stood in line for security.

Usually I remove the stroller seats and send them through the x-ray machine while the base gets hand checked.  The security people didn't ask me to take the seats off so I figured yay, less work for me.  Except then the seats set off the alarm and I got my bags searched and a full pat down.  Fail.  Whatever, we got through and essentially boarded the plane.  Everything seemed to be going fine and then we just sat on the runway.  This airport has one gate.  We were the only flight.  We were not waiting in line.  Nope, apparently the bigger planes were hogging the airspace so the Atlanta airport wouldn't let us take off.  Lame sauce.  Especially since our layover was only 40 minutes.  We ended up sitting on the runway for 15 minutes, and then while we were in the air, they made us circle the airport for 30 minutes before landing.  Goodbye layover.  Goodbye flight and getting in to KC before noon.

I could drag this out, but the rest of the story short, we got put on stand by for the next flight and successfully got on it.  We were home by 2:30, the girls fell asleep in the car, and Ryann didn't throw up anymore.  Traveling with Elsie pretty much still sucks.  Despite the amount of snacks, iPad, movies, crayons and stickers, she just wanted to get up and run around.  Hopefully she gets better at it soon, but we'll keep going to Georgia anyway.  We love it! 

georgia vacation part one

I'm feeling lazy and don't want to throw too much in to one post, so I'm splitting my vacation recap in to two.  A couple weeks ago we went to Georgia for a little family vacation.  Chris had a five day stretch without any games or things he had to attend so we decided to jump on it.  Plus my mom thought this was her birthday celebration :o).

We usually fly in to the Jacksonville airport, but this time the prices to there and Brunswick (which is closer to my parents, but a SMALL airport) were pretty comparable so we switched it up.  And in a bold move we scheduled the 7AM flight out of Kansas City.  Truthfully I think it ended up working out better.  Sure it sucks to set your alarm for 4am, but I was 100% packed the night before because there wasn't another option.  I had clothes and everything laid out for the girls and I, so I just woke up, got myself ready, we packed the car and then woke the kids up and essentially buckled them in and left.  No doing any last minute things or packing any last minute things or convincing kids to get in the stupid car.  And that way we were at my parents house by 1pm, essentially giving us an extra day.  Winning.

The only downside to the early wake up call?  Ryann didn't make it through dinner.  Whoops.  We tried to get her to take a nap earlier in the day, but she couldn't get comfortable on the plane, and by the time we were there she was just too excited.  She passed out at the table, and Chris eventually moved her to a nearby booth where she slept until we left.  She pretty much went right to bed when we got back and slept all night so no harm done I guess?  It was funny.

elsie's orange headband

Sunday morning I woke up early and went for a disgustingly humid seven mile run.  I have a serious love/hate relationship with Georgia running.  The views are so much prettier than what I usually have, and it is nice and flat.  But humidity is just plain gross.  Nonetheless, I got it done.  We had some breakfast and then headed to the marina to go out on the boat.  Our last Georgia boating experience lasted approximately 5 minutes thanks to Elsie hating it.  This time she gave us a solid 20 before deciding she was done.  I'm not a huge fan of being on the boat there, but it was very pretty.

After boating we headed back to my parents house to swim and eat some lunch.  If you are ever putting in a pool I highly suggest having a shallow deck.  The girls LOVE being able to just play easily in the water, and it is nice to be able to sit in the water as an adult as well.






On Monday we spent some time at the beach.  Both Elsie and Ryann LOVE being at the beach.  Minus the heat, they both can only handle it for so long.  But Elsie was charging the water and splashing in the waves.  Ryann loves playing in the tide pools.  And they both enjoy searching for shells.  After the beach we got changed and headed to lunch at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.  Margaritas in the middle of the day make me kind of useless, but they sure taste good :o).

I think there was some more swimming and of course more eating that day.  Which is pretty much what our entire vacation consisted of.  And I am not complaining about that one bit.

georgia vacation - part two

Truthfully, the rest of the vacation was a lot like the beginning of the vacation.  Beach, pool, eat, repeat!  So I'll let the pictures do the talking and add in any details I don't want to forget.

 The curls.  Oh the curls.  I couldn't get enough of them.

 Two ornrey peas in a pod! 

Oh just that morning that Ryann insisted on wearing the headband she fashioned from Auntie Lorin's swimsuit strap to breakfast.

She is obsessed with the Super Man ice cream.  You know, vanilla with food coloring?  Ha ha.

We seriously had such a good time.  Can't wait until the next time we can all get back there!