We're home

Our trip was awesome!! We spent the first night with Kit & Laura and had a great time. We have decided that we are definitely going to have to go back to Atlanta for a much longer visit soon.

The next morning, we hit the road for Ormond Beach, Fl. With construction, horrible traffic, and thunderstorms it took us 8 hours instead of 6 1/2. No fun! But, we did get there at a decent time & were able relax and enjoy the night.

The next day, we went to the beach in the morning & to the lighthouse just south of the area that afternoon. To get to the top of the lighthouse, you have to climb 203 stairs. It was 175 feet tall & gave a magnificent view once at the top. Since I am a little afraid of heights, coming down the lighthouse was a bit scary. The view from the top was definitely worth it, though.
Monday, we spent the whole day at the beach! It was so much fun. I have been longing for a beach vacation & I was relishing every moment of that day. We rented an umbrella so that we could keep Sydney out of the sun most of the day. Later that morning we also rented a body board. That ended up being much more fun than I had expected. By the end of the day, Ryan was burned and I was completely exhausted!!
Tuesday we headed to Jacksonville, FL. There we went to the Navy base. I had been wanting to get Sydney a Navy shirt, but since there isn't a Navy base close to E-town I haven't been able to. So, we took off that day in hopes of success. After checking out the beach on base (where I had a sand crab walk straight by my foot!!! AH!) and searching for the exchange, we finally found out that the Exchange & Commissary (mini-Walmart & grocery) were off-base. We finally found it & had great success. We got a very cute shirt for Sydney & I even got an amazingly soft sweatshirt for me! :-)

Wednesday we drove around, but basically spent most of the morning in the room. We slept in and were 100% lazy! Yay!! After being lazy, we headed out to the pool. Ryan worked on our website at one of the tables under an umbrella while Sydney and I played in the pool. So, it was win-win for everyone!

Thursday we went shopping in St. Augustine at one of their outlet malls. Yes, they have 2 outlet malls!! We walked away with some steals for all of us!!! On the way to St. Augustine we took A1A up the coast instead of interstate 95. We had no idea how long it would take us, but decided the drive might be worth the extra time. We were right!! It was a gorgeous drive.

Friday got up before the crack of dawn so that we could see the sunrise over the ocean. Ryan went to Starbucks and got us drinks for the occasion. I was highly thankful since I am not a morning person. The sunrise was magical. After the sun made her debut, we combed the sand for seashells & were quite lucky. Once we made it back to our resort, we sat at the pool deck & enjoyed the calmness of the morning. Although it was quite cloudy, I noticed that I was getting some sun, so I went in and changed into my bathing suit. That act had me wanting to stay by the pool all day! It was SO relaxing. So, we ended up deciding to hang out by the pool most of the day. Since our A/C wasn't working in our room, we ended up being forced out anyway. Don't worry, though, they did get it fixed before the day was over. Actually, they got it fixed just as a thunderstorm popped up & forced us indoors!! Perfect timing!
That night we went for a walk along the populated Daytona stretch in search for t-shirts marking our trip. Since Ryan and I don't have very many t-shirts (literally) we decided this would be a good time to get one that isn't just another Old Navy t-shirt.

Saturday we headed back home thankful of the time we were given just to concentrate on being a family. It was some of the most special moments we have ever had. Thanks, Ryan, for letting us go & for being such an amazing husband. Thanks, Dad, for giving us the week!!! It definitely was more than we could have imagined!!