SSI 2018, Part I

This July we took our first beach vacation as a family of five to St. Simons Island, GA.   I had never heard of SSI until we moved to Middle GA, but everyone here seems to vacation there or have vacation homes on the Island.  I've heard about the vacation spot so much (and had a long list of recommendations!), so we were excited to see it for ourselves. And it didn't disappoint! It's small enough to not feel overly commercial, but with enough activity and excitement to keep busy (very important for the Sassers). We rented a house not far from the beach, which provided us ample space, a kitchen to cook in, a yard for Enda (yes, she went, too), plus a private pool.

We tried not to fill the days with too many excursions to allow the kids playtime on the beach.  I cannot believe how much they enjoyed the sand and the surf this trip!  Especially as the last few beach trips they avoided at all costs!  This time they ran around, built sand castles, dug holes, laid in the water, jumped over the waves, waved furiously at the helicopters and bi-plane tours that flew by every few minutes. They had a blast!

I can't believe how well these kiddos played together.  When they're not fighting and aggravating each other (which is often), they are the best of friends.  While we beached, Ms. T stayed behind with Wesley at the house. This worked out perfectly so that James and I could tag team the two in the big waves.

Beyond the public beaches, we enjoyed some of the other public spaces, too, like the wonderful playground right off the water. (They also had an enormous splashpad, but the weather did not cooperate the days we tried to go. Maybe next trip!)

We rented a golf cart for the week - fantastic idea that allowed us to maneuver round the island very quickly (while entertaining the kiddos immensely).

And what's a beach vacation without some ice cream?  Even Wesley got to try some on the first day (which meant he totally lost his mind if anyone enjoyed some without him later on!)

Although we cooked at lot at home, we did enjoy some lovely SSI restaurants, too. We ate our weight in shrimp (boiled, grilled, fried, etc), plus lots of other fresh fish caught right off the docks.

(Funny story - we forgot Wes' purees one lunch. They offered up a homemade carrot muffin, but  I said "he won't eat anything solid!"  Guess who decided he's okay with texture and solids, right there on the spot?)

James and I went to a "fancy" dinner our last night, feasting on...wild antelope out of Texas and smoked pork chops out of Georgia.  (Sometimes you just can't handle any more seafood!)

The only "bad" thing (or things) that happened on our trip: mosquitoes.  Now, I know we live in the South, and I know we've had months and months of rain....but, geez Louise, those suckers were bad on the Island.  And poor Sis had a terrible reaction to a few that attacked her face in the pool (the only part of her they could get to!) We spent Sunday evening in urgent care, and fortunately a steroid shot did the trick.

(We're now trending about 3:4,  in terms of vacations with the kiddos that required urgent care visits.  I swear, why does this stuff happen on vacation?!  I'm just so grateful it's never something serious....)

Since this post already contains so many pictures and stories, I'll plan on a "SSI 2018 Part 2" post to document the excursions we took off the Island.  Still more memories to share!

Our Beach Babies!

Our family spent the best six days on St. Simons Island last week - enjoying the sun, surf, pool, and uninterrupted time as a family unit.  I have so much to write about - so many adventures - but I'll save that for a later post.  For now, let me share some (okay, A LOT OF) precious pictures of these wonderful kiddos enjoying the beach.

This one makes me laugh so hard...I can't recall where that sand went because I was behind the camera, but rest assured that no one was hurt in these pictures!

Ms. T joined us for the week, as she is practically family at this point.  The children adore her, she loves them back, and we find her enormously helpful to keeping everyone happy (and alive!)

I have to take a million pictures of the kids because everyone refuses to look and smile at the same time....

(Please, someone, teach me photoshop so I can mechanically create one smiling photo!!!)

Can I brag on these sweet kiddos real quick? I know, I know, I brag on them every post, but it's because they are so great!  (Well, when they are not driving us crazy with their whining, fighting and deliberate disobeying....)  

JB is nearly 5 years old and still loves all things super heroes.  He names all his stuffed animals or animals we see in nature based on what they do and look like (such as Shelly, his turtle; Snappy, his alligator; Flappy, the butterfly in our garden; Hoppy, the frog on our porch; Ducky, the duck at the hospital pond).  He is really into the new Lady Gaga song, and loves to show us his dance moves (which includes a lot of karate moves). He can write his name very clearly, learning more and more letters, but loves numbers, math and puzzles.

And then our little red head.  Maryn is nearly 3 years old, gets into so much trouble every day, and has a sassy, strong personality.  She wants to watch The Secret Lives of Pets every single day, multiple times a day, and listens to her VBS CD on repeat all day long.  At night she asks me to sing "Jesus Wants to be My Friend Forever" (and gets mad if I don't do all the hand motions).

And then our last born - how is he almost a year old?!  We love our little caboose.  Wesley happily went long for the ride during most all our beach outings. So easy going, this little fella.

And these are only a few of our vacation pictures, if you can believe that!  I need to sit down (maybe with a Corona or a Goose Island 312, to get into the beach mood) and document all the fun things we did.  So many things I want to capture!