Georgia Vacation 2013

To say this was an amazing vacation would be an understatement. Matt and I agree it is by far the best vacation we have taken to date. We have many beautiful memories and tons of great pictures... some of which I have shared here and others I will share on facebook.

By far my favortie picture from the trip

The trip began with a hotel stay the night before we left.  Our flight left at 5 am and we arrived in Jacksonville by 10 am.  It was a short, smooth travel day.  Grant was relatively unimpressed by the airplane on the way down.  When we took off, it was dark and he was so exhausted by the connecting flight in Atlanta that he was asleep before we even took off.  Amelia never made a peep.  She ate and napped and barely stayed awake at all on the way down.

 

 

Friday afternoon was filled with some family time and preparation for my mom’s birthday party the following day. 

Saturday morning was a mini high school reunion of sorts with some of my friends from high school and their children (for those that have them already).  I am still kicking myself for not taking an updated picture from the last time we all got together when we were down!  Saturday evening we had a birthday party for my mom filled with family, friends, music and delicious food.

 

 

Sunday was a lazy day followed by a tourist extravaganza at the Okefenokee Swamp Park.  We saw all the expected critters complete with gators (both wild and caged), snakes, otters, bears, etc.  We rode the train around the park and attended the wild life show where Grant got to pet snakes and a couple small gators.  He LOVED it!

 

Tuesday we took a short trip down to the hunting club to do some swimming and just a little fishing. We also had to get packed up for our trip to the beach.
 

On Wednesday, we left for Amelia Island to spend the remainder of our trip at the beach.  We arrived to slightly overcast skies and light rain but got unpacked and waited for a college friend of mine and her family to arrive.  In the afternoon, we settled for a short trip to the pool.

Thursday and Friday were beach days. Grant begged to be in the waves and loved digging in the sand.  He had plenty of company (His cousins Aiden-4 and Able-1 as well as my friend Amanda's children Jonah-2 1/2 and Nolan 1).  The boys all played and had a blast and Amelia relaxed under the shade tent.  Friday evening we went out to dinner with my parents, step sister Brandy, her family and my step brother Paul.

 

Our day on Saturday didn't start super early because our flight home didn't leave until 10:55 am. However, we were pushing it close on the way to the airport because of an unanticipated interstate detour. We were met by a man with a luggage cart at the car rental return.  He asked if we needed help and I asked how fast he could run!  It wasn't until he loaded us up and we ran to the ticket counter that we found out our 1st flight had been slightly delayed so we ended up having plenty of time.  Again, the kids were exceptional on the plane.  Grant enjoyed looking out the window more this time but slept nearly 2 ½ hours on the connecting flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Milwaukee.