July 10th - Happy 5th Anniversary to me and Kevin! We spent it driving 10 hours in the suburban all the way to Birmingham, Alabama. Jack was okay, but by the end of the day he was done with being in the car seat. We got to the hotel and had a peaceful night in our own room! This was Jack's first time in a hotel!
July 11th - We got back in the car and made the 2 or 3 hour trek to the deep south of Alabama, through a little town called Smut eye and to my Aunt Corrine's house. Aunt Corrine is my dad's oldest biological sister. I hadn't seen her since before Uncle James died, but she seemed to be doing very well. The kids got to play in the sandy yard while the adults tried to catch up with Aunt Corrine as well as help keep the kiddos from being so cranky.
After the visit we loaded back up and headed for Dad's hometown, Ozark, Alabama. We got the usual "down memory lane" stories, but I love hearing them every time! We stayed the night in Ozark. Everyone was exhausted by that night and ready to just get to the beach!
July 12th - We took some time to go grocery shopping before heading to the island while the brother-in-laws, Kevin and Kirk, stayed with Jack and Amanda. When we returned from the shopping excursion, little Amanda had apparently dumped the whole box of Cheese nips on the floor and then melted down, but then just passed out on the couch! This is what we saw when we returned:
After loading up everything in Ozark, we were finally on the road to St. George Island, Florida. It took about 3 hours to get there. Not bad. It was such a cool feeling from the moment you could first see the ocean running alongside the highway. I just love the ocean! We crossed the 2 very long bridges at Apalachicola that took us to St. George and finally we were there! We had 2 houses that were connected by a huge long deck. It was perfect! First thing was get down to swim! Jack loved the ocean! He didn't so much like the sand, but Amanda did!
July 13th - Judd, Xiaoguo and Jonah got there the previous night, so now everyone was here! We got up, had breakfast, went for a morning swim with all the kiddos, then just had a leisurely day of relaxing and playing with the kids! We swam again in the later afternoon then had dinner and sat out on the deck while the kids played and did bubbles. What a nice getaway!
July 14th - Pretty much the exact same as the day before!! Love it! My sister, Carrie, and our family friend, Katelyn, did feed the seagulls from our deck and it was a pretty cool sight! We were also working on getting Jonah not to be scared of Boomer and Dougle, the dogs!
July 15th - On this morning, instead of swimming, we decided to take the kids to the park by the lighthouse and give Mom a well-needed break from all the crazy chaos! So we went to the park, but it was SO hot, so we decided to load up and take the "scenic island tour" with our driver, my brother-in-law, Kirk! It was fun.
Later on that day, we loaded up and headed off the island and up to Wakulla Springs, Florida, where we were going to try and ride the glass bottom boats. Turns out they weren't running them that day, but they were doing the jungle cruises. That's what we did! It was fun! We saw alligators, birds, turtles and really cool swampy scenery!
July 16th - We did the usual morning swim and all that jazz. We were later expecting a visit from my Aunt Senoia and Uncle Mike. This was Uncle Mike's first trip down to the beach in 15 years! My dad's friend, Claude also came to visit as well! It was great to see them! Katelyn also caught some hermit crabs from the bottom of the ocean that we put in a jar. Jack was fascinated!
Late that night, Carrie and I went on a great adventure! We took two flashlights and a bucket and headed to the pitch black beach to look for crabs. It was really fun! We walked up and down the beach, right where the waves were coming in and hunted down the blue shelled crabs. I shined the light, she scooped up the crabs! It was cool! Then when we returned with our bucket of crabs, Xiaoguo wanted to immediately cook one up and try it. So she did! She said it was good!
July 17th - It's not quite the last day on the beach, but it's the last day with us all being there. Carrie, Kirk, Amanda and Judd, Xiaoguo, and Jonah were all headed out on the next day. We went over to Apalachicola for shell shops that morning and just to give Mom another break. But we also had to develop the family picture that we took that morning so we could give Mom her surprise picture frame that we'd all been writing on and keeping track of our best memories! Kirk wanted us to all go eat icecream that evening after dinner at this little icecream shoppe, so we did and it was awesome!! They just happened to have "Welcome Baby Jack" on their marquee sign! We had to get a picture! Then we spent the last evening together just hanging out on the deck and having a great time!
July 18th - Judd, Xiaoguo, and Jonah left at 5:30 am. Carrie, Kirk, and Amanda left at 11:00 am. This was our last official day on the beach. It was a rainy, rainy morning. We stayed inside and cleaned and packed. We later got to go out on the beach, but it was SO extrememly windy! Dad and Kevin did some fishing off the beach and Jack was having fun chasing Boomer. I couldn't believe how fast the week went by!
July 19th - We pulled out of St. George Island at 4:30 am and drove a long, long day all the way back to Aurora. I think we got to Aurora at 10:30 pm. It was really hard to have to leave the wonderful house right on the beach to come home! I think I could've stayed there forever!!
