One of my many favorites parts about vacation is waking up early before everyone and having my coffee and breakfast in quietness while I read Jeff's journal entry of the previous day. It's so much to see what he took from the same day I just went through. Last year year I posted it on the blog and I will do the same this year. Posting these long post isn't so much for the people that follow our blog even though our family says they look forward to reading it, but it's more for us. I love to look back at the pervious years and reminisces over our fun family activities! So here you go, looking forward to a fun family week! I must add, the part we is talks about me feeling like I have things crawling on me is my pergo body is doing weird things. We didn't have bed bugs I just have been having really itchy skin lately!
Happy Reading,
Amanda
We hit the road at precisely 2:30pm yesterday following our 4th and final thanksgiving meal with the Robert's family. Our goal was to get to the east side of Atlanta, post up in a hotel and hit the road early today. We a McD's stop and a gas stop and made great time, rolling into the hotel a little after 10pm (CST). Funny thing, Amanda intentionally got a hotel on the east side of Atlanta to avoid any of the traffic congestion we were sure to encounter in the heart of town, however, upon arrival to our hotel, we discovered it was part of a large shopping center. Needless to say, we expected the worst the next morning seeing as it is the biggest shopping weekend of the year. More to come on that in a sec. So, we checked in and we were told that our room had a single queen bed! Turns out, since we booked on priceline, we were completely at the mercy of the hotel and all multi-bed rooms were taken, as were suites. We managed, but poor Ashley ended up sleeping curled up in a ball in a chair. I don't think any of us got a "great" night of sleep. Between Ashley awkward chair and Amanda feeling like things were crawling on her all night, it was a long night for everyone. The next morning (THIS morning) we all got up around 5:30 (that's important). By 6:30 (EST) we were in the parking lot of Panera only to discover that they were closed. In fact, everything was closed! The mall that we assumed would be packed full of mase wielding crazies was a ghost town. Apparently, people in Georgia have discovered the internet. We ended up grabbing some McD's breakfast bisuits (vowing this was the last time to visit a McD's on our vacation), topped of the gas tank and got going.
The reason for the importance on the "5:30" was that we were all very, VERY tired for the remaining 4.5 hr trip. I have to stop here though and praise my kids. Considering the circumstances, the lack of good sleep, the long hrs in the car, etc. they were (are) awesome! But, poor Cooper. Anything that made that girl a little upset led to a full out meltdown. There were several of those over the course of the day. The boys have all been champs...even Reed despite have a cough and runny nose.
It's great to have an extra set of hands here. Unless she's just doing a good job of hiding it (and she's been known to do that), Amanda seems to be doing alright. We were a little concerned the effects the long trip would have on her legs but we got up and moved around enough that she seems to be fine. Ashley has been a huge help (as we knew she would be). I know we're going to be spoiled having her around this week.
Admittedly, Amanda & I were a little nervous the whole way to Kiawah. We loved San Destin last year but everyone has told us that we would likely enjoy Kiawah even more because it's more "our style". They were right! We rolled in around 11:30am and could tell just by the drive into the resort area that this wasn't your cliche tropical destination. This place had serious character. When we pulled into the condo building, my first thought was Swiss Family Robinson. The entire building (and surrounding buildings) look like giant tree houses, covered in shaker style would shingles.
Just like last year, the anticipation of seeing the ocean built up until the moment we entered the condo and looked out the patio doors to see it for the first time. The condo is beautiful. Decorated in a southern traditional style, it's cozy. This isn't anything like Destin where we were surrounded by shopping areas and restaurants. Aside from the small shopping area down the street, it feels like your miles away from any real hussle or bussle.
We got everything situated and got the quick tour of the condo and headed to "the Village" for lunch. This is a small (but very nice) area full of shops and restaurants. We ate at a gourmet pizza place called La Tela. Of course Parker was excited to eat pepperoni pizza. Fortunately, he doesn't quite understand the whole "gourmet" thing. It looked and tasted a little different but he handled it. After lunch, we walked around a bit. We let the kids run laps in an open grass area to try to expend some energy. Once they were adequately exhausted, it was on to the Piggly Wiggly. On the trip there, Cooper through one of her tantrums which led to her falling fast asleep just as we entered the "Wiggly" parking lot. So, I stayed in the car (and dozed off myself) while Amanda, Ashley and the boys grocery shopped.
We returned the condo and opted to get Avin, Parker and Cooper ready to go to the beach. Amanda walked us out and quickly returned to the condo to rest. The kids and I stayed out for only a little while. The sun was dropping quickly (and beautifully) and it was getting chilly. I should mention, after a brief pep talk, Cooper took to the sand just fine (unlike last year). As I gather the kids with their shovels and pals, I noticed that people were filing out, setting up chairs and busting out there kindles to read and watch the sun set. I LOVE that. That just comfirmed that I'm here to really "vacate" and relax. Read a book, watch the sun set.
After we came in, Amanda made tacos for dinner. We all ate and then mustered the energy to returned to the village for some Marble Slab ice cream. It's tradition for us to have ice cream every night of vacation but after a $30 ice cream bill, we may be modifying that tradition slightly for the remainder of the vacation.
We finish our ice cream (drizzled in gold dust) and returned to the condo. We got the kids ready and it was off to bed. I grabbed a book to read, Dr. Seuss' Bears on Wheels. I went to start reading it but Avin stopped me and said, "I'll say it..." he proceeded to recite the whole book by memory. On one hand I was incredibly impressed and on the other, I thought, "we better be feedin' this kid some serious scripture". After my little genius boy finish the story the kids went to bed. That was about an hour ago now and it's time for me to do the same.
I'm looking forward to starting tomorrow off with a run and spending the day with the family. It's going to be a great week.
JS
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