Our 2010 family vacation= Marvelous Time!
Its so nice to get away from reality for a minute to re-evaluate our life of blessings.
We would love to share our journal entries followed by our visual journal(the pictures). Ready to follow our VACA adventures. Here you go...
Journal Entry - Day One
June 26. 2010
Happy 6th Anniversary to us! We woke up to another year of togetherness. Yay!
Some days have been tuff but in the end they will make our love buff. Hehe!
A little off schedule we leave home at 1:30p headed South. First stop Nana and Poppi's. We arrived later then expected so we visited a few hours with N and P and got ready to go out to dinner with Carolyn, Wayne and the gang. We had a lovely dinner with the family. It was so good to see everyones face and have a few laughs over stories told. After dinner lights out and nighty night.
Journal Entry - Day Two
June 27. 2010
Good Morning Sunshine! Another pretty day in Lyons. The kids NEVER sleep in, so up and early it is for me. 10 o'clock rolls around and our fam decides to take a splash in the pool. Oh how we LOVE the water! The day speeds by faster then we know lunch, nap, playtime, dinner, bath time, and what do you know bed time has approached us. Tomorrow is the big day. Yay!
Journal Entry - Day Three
June 28. 2010
We get up at 6a, car packed, ready to go. But OH NO... Avery has a fever. AHHH!! This can't be. Just the luck we've been having. (I sound like such a pessimist) Its a slight fever, a little Motrin does the trick. We're off by 8a, on the way to Jacksonville TODAY! The kids did pretty good for being cramped in a confined car for 3 hours. The Okeefanokee Swamp is our first stop before we get to Florida. We detoured down a car trail and saw what we could see. Before we knew it we encountered a live Alligator. He was a pretty good size. The kids were so amused. How could they not be? Its not everyday that they get to see a life-threatning animal within 3 feet of our car. So after the adrenaline rush. We cross the state line and onward we go to Jax. It wasn't long before we were on the outskirts of the big big city of Jacksonville. Slowly but surely the town starts to come alive. So much to do in that city. First stop the BEACH. We are all so anxious to see the Ocean. Its been a year to long, and man it is still just as beautiful as ever. From 12- 4 we're on the shore. Its not long before a storm moves in, and onward we go to find our Marriott. As we're checking in the bottom drops out.
I just love when you first lay eyes on your hotel room. The rooms are so pretty. Those pretty made beds lasted maybe .05 seconds. The kids set there eyes on them. Target destroy. LOL! We had a late seafood dinner followed by a car ride full of snoozes. Tomorrow is another day! Yay!
Journal Entry - Day Four
June 29. 2010
Waking up to explore another day on the shore. We actually slept in today. 8'o clock. Nice. Continental breakfast first. Then I announced "Get ready kids were headed to the beach." I wish they would be as quick to clean there rooms as they were to get dressed. The kids played for a few hours in the sand, and we decide to head back to the hotel to be just a little lazy. We lounge for a bit then get dressed to go to Joe's Crab Shack. First stop before dinner. Yep, you guessed it the beach. So we snap a few pics ( well maybe a little more than a few lol!) and head to the Shack. The JCS in Jax is right on the beach and super cute. They even had a playscape for the kids to play on while waiting for dinner. This is where we had a funny encounter with some kids. Well if Jackson wasn't so funny and social this never would have happened. So Jackson meets a boy named Michael. After he ponders for a second he says "you know if you put our names together we would be "Michael Jackson"". Little Michael was adamant that his last name was Arnold not Jackson and Jackson of course got such a kick out of running around calling the kid "Michael Jackson." Which brought Michael to the point to repetitively introduce himself with his hi pitched voice." Hi my name is Michael Arnold." It was too funny. It might be one of those times you have to be there to get the humor. Anywho a little girl joins in. Jackson's still going around calling the kid Michael Jackson. So I start talking to the little girls mom explaining to her what's going on and she laughs and tells me that that's too funny because her daughters name is "Jessica Simpson." Wow! What a night. Dinner is finally served and scrumptious to say the least. Kids crash so do we shortly after we get back to the hotel.
Journal Entry - Day Five
June 30. 2010
Harrison is the first to pop up as always. We hit the beach by lunch(11a) and ended up having to head back to the hotel from a storm brewing by 12:30. Ahh!! Not another rainy day:( After the lighting and thunder stopped we took the kids to the pool and stayed the rest of the afternoon. We we're like a box of prunes by the time we left. But I would do it again in a heartbeat. What fun we had! Another funny Jackson story that took place at the pool, happened when Brandon went to go check on our laundry. There was a man who came by the pool and sat down in front of the kids and my self. Jackson of course starts talking to him and the man says that he wasn't looking and J but was watching me. By the way the guy was CREEPY, obviously. (God Loves him though) Anywho Jackson steps in again and asks him
" Where is your husband?." The man gets offended and walks away. Even though that was inappropriate, I love my little man protecting me!
So dinner night #3 we end up at "Sliders" a quaint little restaurant Brandon googled that is a block from the beach. The kids chose to make their own pizza and after another yummy meal we took the kiddos for a walk in the dark on the beach. Harrison crashed in our arms and we had to pass the heavy babe back and forth. What a beautiful nights end.
Journal Entry - Day Six
July 1. 2010
Our hotel stay comes to an end. So we pack our bags and head out to the beach for today is the prettiest day yet. Jackson meets back up with a little boy he played with yesterday and Monday named Garrett. Jackson and I crash waves and find shells. While Avery and Harrison wait until the ocean leaves a little pool for them to play in. Avery ended up loathing the waves. ???? Fun Full Beautiful day spent with the fam. I even have a little color now. Im not blending in with the sand any more which is an accomplishment. We've moved our stuff from the hotel and now were headed to visit and stay with Melinda and Clay. They've opened their home to our family to stay.
After a nice shower and change of clothes we are ready to venture to town. M and C gathered up Jennifer , Michael, Kate and took us to a little mexican restaurant close by. For yet another yummy meal. Oh how I love eating good and not having to cook. The rain started but let up by dark. I was so ready to visit Downtown Jacksonville, I heard the bridges we beautifully lit at night.
So Brandon put the kids to bed and caught up with Clay while Melinda took Jennifer, Kate and Myself to the Jacksonville Landing, and it was sooo beautiful! (You'll see what I mean when you see pics of the blue bridge.) Thanks again for taking me there ladies!
Journal Entry - Day Seven
July 2. 2010
Wake up. Its our last full day of VACA. The whole time Brandon and I had planned to take the kids to the Jacksonville ZOO, but last night when we rode downtown I spotted MOSH. The Museum Of Science and History. So we did some research and found out that MOSH has $5 Fridays along with the Chronicles of Narnia Exhibit. So we decide to venture there. So much to see and do. The Narnia exhibit was pretty cool. Everything in the exhibit was used in the movie. The kids were interested in most of the things there on all three floors. Harrison loved the fish, and the human body gas machine. Imagine that.
Pizza night! We fed the kids put them to bed and Melinda let Brandon and I go out. A late Anniversary date. We went back to Sliders where I enjoyed a yummy key lime pie and Brandon, oysters. What a weird combo, right? We then journeyed to the Lemon Bar where we toasted to our 6 years of togetherness! After that we took a late night walk during high tide, grabbed a blanket and listened to some music in the sand. Not to mention falling asleep for about 30 before the tide tickled my toes and told us to go home.
Journal Entry - Day Eight
July 3. 2010
Our last day:( Im always so sad to go home. A very small part of my life is left here. I just hate to leave. We get our color coordinated outfits on and head to the beach to take our family pic. I don't know what I was thinking because when we got there there were a million and a half people camped out for the holiday weekend. I apparently wasn't thinking. It ended up being a breeze thanks to our
Photographer: Melinda
Equipment and Sunglass Holder: Clay
Kate: the Clown
After we got the shot. We headed back to the house packed the car and hit the rd.
I'm so glad we got a chance to see all of you this trip. Thanks for the laughs, smiles, dinners, memories, and hospitality!
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Happy 4th Ya'll!
