This is another blog post dedicated to our vacation to Jekyll Island, Georgia.

These photos were all taken with my phone.

I had bought Crackerbarrel gift cards for Christmas presents for last Christmas…but never gave them out…so we used them ourselves for a nice breakfast.  I do feel kind of bad about that.

There was a tiny baby at the Crackerbarrel sitting at the next table over.  She was so little I wondered how she was going to sit with out falling forward and bumping the table.  But she was strong and did great and was sooooooo cute.  I watched her as she kept her eyes on the spoon her Dad was feeding her with.  I ended up holding my own very big baby on my lap by the end of breakfast.

This is Caleb doing artwork and eating oreos during the trip.

Taking naps during the trip.

We finally arrived!  Sarah was just so thrilled to be “in Georgia”.

This is me and my sister, with our girls Abbie and Grace.

Food at the Pier was amazing.  It’s my favorite place to eat on Jekyll.  I had the boiled shrimp and this is the plate of seafood that Jacob and David shared.

One morning I left the Sans Souci with just my little Seth (6 years old).  We were the only ones awake out of my family.  We snuck outdoors, holding hands, and went over to the main Jekyll Clubhouse to get my complimentary cup of coffee.  On the way back we met Isaac and Cassandra about to go on a bike ride.

While all the men in our family went golfing, I took Caleb, Seth, and Sarah to the little shops by the Clubhouse.  Seth quickly chose this dog puppet.  He named it Jekyll.  At the next shop, I had him sit on the bench outside and play my phone so I didn’t have to keep track of three small kids.  Later I discovered that he had taken this picture of his new friend.

If you bought a soda you got free refills with your cup all day long.  The kids all LOVED the Shirly Temples.  We got them over and over.  There is nothing like an ice cold soda on a hot day.

Amanda took this one of my mom and me walking with Cassandra and Maria.

Rich took Caleb, Seth, and Sarah biking.

Mom took Ethan and me to Brunswick to do a little shopping at some antique stores.

I took this picture for my son David because he collects Coke bottles.  This purple one was purple, heavy and cost 40 dollars.

In Brunswick there was a park square every few blocks.  Each one was named and had nice places to sit and relax next to flowers and fountains.

I took Grace to the shops.  This is one of my favorite pictures.  We were missing our own cats back at home and were happy to find and make friends with this nice big one outside of the bookstore.

My favorite stationary….curly girl design.

Grace lost her necklace on vacation.  It was her favorite one, too.  (she’s wearing it in the picture).

I lost my new kindle fire.  (!!!!!!!!!!!) makes me ill.

On Friday night we played beach volleyball.

It’s amazing to have a family big enough to have a game, and it was so much fun.

When we hit it out of bounds someone would say “Look out for the alligators!” or, “Look out for the rattle snakes!”

I was supposed to be playing my position but still managed to get some good photos!

Sunset making the road look like it was on fire…….

On Saturday morning it was time to say our goodbyes and travel back home.  I love this sister-pic of Maria, Cassandra, Melissa, Amanda, and Shanda (yours truly).  I love how all our names end in “a”, the “uh” sound.  I especially loved visiting with Maria and Melissa because I don’t get to see them as much as I would like.  I’m so blessed to have the best sisters.

Aunt Amanda, Uncle Jason, Grandma, and Grandpa leaned into the van to say goodbye to the children.

But one was missing!

It was Dave.

He had ran over to the pool to try to find his flip-flops (another thing lost..ugh)

So Rich and I hopped in the van, ready to leave, and watched as the family gave Dave lots of hugs.  And he’s the type that gets shy with too much public attention!  It was the best little moment……

He’s in there!  Surrounded by his adoring family.

Look at that face!

goodbye, goodbye!

God be with you ’til we meet again.

“You can kiss your family and friends goodbye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.”  Frederick Buechner