warning: a long and detailed account of our trip
Our family of four went on our first vacation together last week to Amelia Island, Florida. We had a wonderful week away and got much more relaxing in than I anticipated!
The trip got off to a great start with an unbelievably smooth flight. This was the first time the boys had flown together, and maybe that was the key, but they hardly made a peep! Truly shocking! Oh, besides the LOUD, high-pitched scream that Jack let out when it was time to sit still and take off. I'm sure we scared everyone around us into putting in their earplugs, but that was the last of it. When we were walking through the airport in Jacksonville, it hit me that I was going to get to spend a week with my favorite people in the world with pretty much nowhere to be and nothing to do!
Our plan for the week was to go there and alternate our days between the beach/pool and day trips. When we got there, we unpacked our three suitcases and explored the hotel. When we got to the pool and beach area and looked around, we decided to nix the day trip idea and just stay there the whole week, with the exception of one shopping day in the historic downtown. It was perfect for little kids, with a nice pool, kiddie splash area, and playground all right together, and we both just felt like we needed to relax after the crazy summer of study!
Our first night, we ate a nice dinner on the lawn of the resort, overlooking the ocean with our friends, the Turk family. Then, we headed down to the ocean to put our feet in the water. The boys loved the waves splashing them and couldn't stop giggling! Jack was so cute and kept running for the water and laughing every time he got splashed. We couldn't keep him out, so eventually, he got fully soaked by the waves...and loved it!
On Monday, our first full day there, Josh left early for a meeting. After the meeting, we kicked the week off with a fun lunch at McDonalds with the Turks (we opted to pay $2 for our hamburgers instead of $15 at the resort), and then headed back to the hotel to get sun-tan-lotioned up! Josh and James went down to the ocean and pool, while Jack and I stayed behind so he could nap. After Jack's nap, we joined them for some fun in the sun. James and Jack had an absolute ball together. Jack was copying everything James was doing and having a ball, and James was loving it and laughing along with him! After we'd had our fill of the sun, we headed upstairs to do a quick change and freshen up for dinner. We went to a delicious New York Style pizza place that had a tv in each booth. We turned on a kiddie show and enjoyed chatting while our kids zoned out! (not normally our idea of a family night out, but we took advantage of a rare situation)
Tuesday was just heavenly. The first half of the day was spent at the pool and beach. Josh and I decided to take advantage of the world-renowned spa at the hotel, and this was my day. I had three hours of wonderful relaxation. I'm not a big massage person, but this massage was as good as it gets. My back felt so happy afterwards (and even days afterwards). After my hour massage, I went to the spa whirlpool, steam room, sauna, relaxation room, and then to the spa pool to have heavenly quiet time. During this time, Josh had the boys during Jack's nap and then took them to McD's for dinner. I met them in the room and we quickly went down to the beach to watch the turtle excavation on the beach (turtle eggs were buried and about ready to hatch). This was a big bust: the turtles weren't ready and you couldn't see through the crowd of people, but we caught up with the Turks and went to the downtown area for some yummy ice cream!
Wednesday was another fun day at the beach. During Jack's nap, Josh left for his 3 hours of massage/relaxation time! James and I played lots of hands of Uno and then snuggled in bed until we both dozed off. Then, I got up and got ready for my date with Josh. We had decided before the trip to trade off date nights with our friends, Gatlan and Denise (aka, the Turks), and this turned out to be one of the highlights of the week, both the date night and the night to watch all of the kids! Our sweet friends and their sweet, adorable children were so wonderful to welcome our children excitedly at the splash area and send us off with no worries at all! Josh had reserved a BMW Z4 at the beginning of the week, which the resort provided free of charge! We headed downtown to a French restaurant in our fun car for the night, and had a wonderful meal together. I love a good meal, and this one was on the of the best ever. After dinner, we strolled around and checked out the beautiful sunset. We headed back at dusk to pick up our kids, who'd had a fun night with their friends!
Thursday was our day off of the beach. We met the Turks in the lobby and headed to McD's (of course) for a yummy breakfast and then to the river to go on the Amelia River Cruise. This was great, but a little too hot and long for our little ones. We really enjoyed getting to see lots of dolphins swimming all around us! The kids especially were thrilled to watch them so closely, swimming in and out of the water. After the cruise, we ate a great meal overlooking the river and headed off on our own to go shopping and walking around town. The town is such a neat, charming town with good shops, lots of great restaurants, and it's lit up with white lights in the trees and frequent horse drawn carriage rides at night. After getting overheated from the hot, humid temperatures, we headed back to the hotel to change for the pool. This night was our night to watch Gunnar and Chloe while their parents went on their date! They came down to the splash area, and we had a ball with the four kiddos! They are such sweet, well-behaved kids, and it was such a fun night! My favorite part was swimming in the pool together. I thought it would be challenging, but it was a blast. Gunnar (6) and James were like brothers, very competitive but so much alike, and were competing the whole time on who could get around the pool faster! Gunnar, who could swim well, was much faster, but that didn't discourage James from trying! Chloe (2 1/2) made us laugh with her silly knock-knock jokes.
Friday was our last day, so we wanted to make the most of it. I went down to the beach for an hour for some quiet time on the beach. Josh and the boys met me down there and we spent the rest of the morning there. At lunchtime, we went up to the pool area and ate at the resort outdoor restaurant. After a little more swimming, we headed upstairs for Jack's nap. Josh went for his hour of quiet time at the beach, while I snuggled in bed with James. Then, James and I went to toddler craft time together. After that, we came back up to the room to get ready for dinner with the Turks. We ate quickly and then headed to the beach for some family pictures! We took turns, had fun, and decided that we needed to live up our last night and get ice cream one more time! We had a great time chatting and then headed back to put the kids down and pack.
We had an absolutely wonderful trip and were so thankful that it went as smoothly as it did! I truly didn't think it would be so relaxing, as you never know what the kids are going to throw at you, but it was just a great time had by all. We were so blessed to get to spend time with the wonderful Turk family, and get to know their family better, too! We look forward to more trips with them in the future! (To see all of our trip pics, go to our family photo link on the right.)
