Kayleigh Faith - 5 Months

Our Vacation-Driftwood Beach

Our last night on Jekyll Island, we took the kids up to Driftwood Beach (Bone Yard Beach). Gene joined us and was gracious to take a couple pictures of our family. The kids had a great time just exploring the beach and hunting for fiddler crabs. It was the perfect way to end our trip.

Our Vacation-Tidelands Nature Center

One morning we visited the Tidelands Nature Center and got to see and pet some of the little creatures that live around Jekyll Island. The kids especially loved the horseshoe and hermit crabs they got to pet. Here they are taking an up close look at a live whelk. Jackson also liked the two little alligators they had in an aquarium. And Kinsey was fascinated with all the little turtles: a loggerhead sea turtle and some different kinds of terrapins.

Our Vacation-Jekyll Island Beach

We had a great time playing around at the beach on Jekyll. Here are our little beach babes and their sandy toes.













Loving the beach . . .
Jackson LOVED playing in the ocean. One day we borrowed a boogie board from Gene and Alice and he had a great time riding in on the waves.

Our Vacation-Jekyll Island/GA Sea Turtle Center

Our last stop on our vacation was to Jekyll Island, GA to visit David's uncle and aunt, Gene and Alice. We first took in The Georgia Sea Turtle Center where they do sea turtle rehabilitation, research and education. It was very interesting understanding the many things that sea turtles have to overcome to survive until adulthood (note to self: don't dress your son in a shirt with a shark on it when visiting the center. Because the curators, will scare him by telling him that the sharks are the predators of the sea turtles and eat the precious creatures we are learning about). We were able to observe them performing surgery on a couple of green sea turtles while we were there. And then we were able to walk through the rehabilitation center where they had 10+ sea turtles recovering from various things. Each turtle had a profile that we could read about and find out what brought them to the center, the kind of sea turtle they were and their age. On the day we visited the center, they had recorded 71 known sea turtle nests on the island.

Our Vacation-Ponte Verde Beach

Ponte Verde Beach is a short drive from my sister's house, so we took the kids over to the beach and to play in the ocean. The kids had the best time hunting for shark's teeth and collecting sea shells. Jackson has been to the ocean once before, but it was Kinsey and Kayleigh's first time.


Jackson and Kinsey playing in the sand. Kayleigh's first steps on the beach.
Kinsey LOVED playing in the waves (her first time in the ocean), but this was the one and only time on our trip that she liked it. I'm sure glad I took a picture! Jackson and Claire with dirty hands from playing on the beach.

Our Vacation-Jacksonville Pool Time

We loved playing at the pool in Courtney and Brent's neighborhood.

Our Vacation-Jacksonville Zoo

Our second stop was a visit to my sister's and her family in Jacksonville, FL. My kids have been missing Claire and Blake like crazy, so they LOVED playing and playing and playing! We took in the JAX Zoo & Splash Park, which was HOT, but fun!

On the carousel, Jackson insisted on the gator and Kinsey chose a zebra!

The kids also loved riding the train, playing in the splash park and getting to see the giraffes up close from the upper deck.

Our Vacation-Gainesville

We had a wonderful time away . . . visiting friends & family and enjoying the sun & sand! Our first stop was in Gainesville, FL visiting the Searby's (Jen was my roommate at LCC). We had so much fun catching up with them and getting to know their little man Evan. The kids had a ball together!

More Fun at the Pool

We enjoyed one last night at the pool before we leave for vacation. It was a REALLY hot day today, so the water was warmer and all the kids had fun! Here are some pictures of each of them enjoying their time at the pool and then a short little video of Jackson swimming.

2010 Shrine Circus

We had a great family night at the Shrine Circus. Jackson especially liked the motorcyclist and BMX biker tricks as well as the guys juggling fire. Kinsey's favorite were the acrobats that would spin by their feet at 20 ft in the air. I asked her if she wanted me to spin her by her feet when we got home . . . she looked up at me and held out her foot asking me to spin her right then! Of course, the elephants, tigers, dogs and ponies are always lots of fun!