Just Load Up Those Kids Adventures

It was beginning to feel like the rain would not stop here in Georgia.  My husband and first born left for middle school camp that morning and my sister and her daughter were up visiting.  There would be no laying out by the pool, no park, and the little ones would not do well at the movies. We were scheduled to leave for the beach in 3 days, 3 long days. The walls and ceiling were closing in. Pity party. Pity party begins, but cannot continue for long.

Why not start out for vacation a little early? Find a stopping place on the way or something. Did we want to be cooped up in my quaint ranch for those three days with 1 school age boy, 2 preschool boys and 1 toddler?? Neigh I say.

The internet search began and by the end of the afternoon we settled on a plan to leave the following day, drive to Jacksonville and stay at a hotel for two nights, supposedly a seven minute walk from the beach. It was actually a 20 minute drive, but whose counting??

Now all we had to do was get an oil change, clean up the house and pack...Yikes!

Hello adventure...let the good times begin - and they did!

The drive was easy, with the help of a few electronic devices and sights to see. I felt so liberated and could not stop smiling; laughing at the smallest of cute, child antics...Lyla and Evan are fighting in the back. Oh, how funny! Oh, how cute!

We broke up our 5 hour trip with a stop at the infamous Cracker Barrel for dinner, where we were able to snag a decent meal and then finish up  the last two hours of our adventure.

No one but Aunt Lauren wanted to do this pic

Once at the hotel the youngin's were wound up and ready to explore. This blurry picture cracks me up so I had to add it.  One little gal on the phone, while the boys go crazy on the beds. We had literally just walked into our room. No worries, we had that under control pretty quick.

So now that we were here what were we going to do with these little ones for the next day? Yawn. We would figure that out in the morning. After all, this was an adventure. We had no schedule whatsoever and I was having so much fun already.


After breakfast we decided to tour the Naval base that was just a couple miles up the road, maybe even 7 minutes walking distance - ha! Oh and by the way, there are not really any Navy ships to see at the Naval Air Station. So don't tell your kids you are going to see some cool ships.

No ships, but there were some neat planes to see at the Naval AIR base. I think my sister and I were just thrilled to have the sun beating down on us. The beach was calling!

For the evening we decided to dine as close to the beach as possible. Once again we loaded up the van and happily drove that 20 minutes.

We chose Beachside Seafood, located right across the street from the beach.  The weather was perfect and the food was delicious!!


My favorite memory from this precious day would be our "stroll" on the beach.  What in the world were we thinking or expecting from these small ones? We were just going to walk along the beach. Immediate protests, slumping shoulders, whining, wails and cries at the injustice of not being able to swim in the water erupted from my three.  Lyla merely repeated "beach" and "water" in her toddler-like way.

Well, we had not thought to bring bathing suits but we decided they could put their feet in the water with instructions to not get their clothes wet.  Are you laughing at me right now?? Are you wondering if I have ever visited the beach with children before? I know. I deserve that.

They did try, ever so much, to stay dry.

Making a beeline to our room upon return in undies...

How could so many precious memories be made in just two short days? So glad we went for it! The next day we would be packing up and driving to Daytona...let the adventures continue. Do you have a spontaneous trip or event that turned out to better than you expected?

***Love you little sister!!!***