Dolphins! {Summer Vacation}

Vacation is so good for the soul!!  Nothing better than spending a lazy day at the beach then getting cleaned up and going out to dinner with my favorite people!

I think my most favorite thing we did during our vacation was the sunset dolphin cruise from Captain Mike's Dolphin Adventure!

We had a yummy dinner at Coco's right next door.  The shrimp wrap was soooo good I could've eaten two - ha!

A little game of checkers and we were off to our adventure!

This is my favorite picture of Hudson this entire trip.  It captures exactly who he is at this moment in time...one part adorable, one part mischevious little boy!  Love him to pieces!!

I love how the guy in the back is like, "Hurry up and take the darn picture - I'm ready to board."

First mate!

Such a fun time. I'm so glad we picked the sunset cruise over the other times. It was nice being able to enjoy a little breeze without having the sun glaring down on us! My favorite little guy!

My favorite big guy...even if he won't smile in pics!

Our tour guide was really great - so funny and so knowledgeable too! I think she accidentally took this selfie while taking a pic of our family - ha!

But the best part. We saw SO MANY dolphins!! This was my favorite shot I captured...

And some of them even have pink bellies!! Whaaat??! I had no idea... 
{Grace said those were the girl ones, obviously.} #dying

Our little family - Summer, 2015 
Lance-38, Jessica - 37, Grace - 8, Hudson - 6

Always amazed at God's masterpieces!!

We had such a great time exploring Tybee Island, Savannah, GA and Hilton Head, SC!! Love adding little flags to the map of places we've been!

And just when we were getting used to everything, our week was over - boo! This is how we felt when our vacation was over...

Can't wait for our next adventure!!

Hilton Head, SC and Kayaking in the Triangle! {Summer Vacation}

I love that we were able to explore lots of different places in a week's time. We took a day trip to Hilton Head - it was definitely much more touristy than Tybee Island, but we found some fun shops and we had a great time at Lawton Stables!

The only bummer was that Hudson was too little for the horseback riding and Grace was too big for the pony rides so we couldn't ride like we wanted to - boo! But we had fun feeding the horses nonetheless!

"He's so slobbery and drooly but I really like him!" ~Hudson, 6

Even I got in on the action! First time to feed a horse!!

Of course, the moment mama says, "Let's take a picture together," all bets are off! hahaha {Could they be any more thrilled???!}

Grace, the Horse Whisperer... 
She fell in love with this horse and was so sad when it was time to leave. She was so gentle. You could totally see the horse relaxing around her.

And then there's Hudson and the chickens...

This pic pretty much sums it up.

After our Hilton Head adventure, we headed back to Tybee and decided to go kayaking. A first for the littles and me. Lance had been, but not recently. 

Hudson - normally all chill and laid back...

...was not too sure about the whole thing! 

He said he was bringing "provisions" (aka Gatorade) in case "we get stranded on that island over there and have to survive". #ohmy

This is my We-better-get-a-family-pic-in-case-something-happens-to-us-out-there!!!!

And we're off!  Kayaking across Tybee Creek to The Triangle (mouth of the inlet to the ocean side) to Little Tybee! We didn't dock at Little Tybee because the thought of gators (creek side) and sharks (ocean side) had my belly in a knot!! Not to mention some certain little ones who kept insisting on paddling and who were too wiggly for comfort!

But I'm so glad we did it. Definitely a thrill! When we got back to AJ's Dockside, the guy said, "Did your kayak flip??" Apparently we had an unacceptable amount of water IN the kayak - hahaha! 

A few more beach pics of those three that I'm crazy about...

Smile, Grace!

Smile, Hudson! he he he 
{I love that God gave me both a girl AND a boy to keep things interesting!!}

This sweet girl is always dancing...

Hudson really got into riding the waves this year...

The beach is indeed our happy place!

Oh, Savannah! {Summer Vacation}

It's safe to say that most of our mornings went like this: 1. wake up 2. go to the beach. No complaints here though!

But our afternoons were full of adventure. I fell in love with Savannah, the moment we drove through downtown that first day. So a little more exploring was absolutely necessary.

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist was gorgeous! I love their baptismal font!

The squares in downtown Savannah are so beautiful! We stopped and made penny wishes at this gorgeous old fountain.

And don't even get me started on the architecture. Love, love, love!!

This is my favorite picture of Grace from our trip. My sweet little pumpkin in all her 8 year old splendor. Love her so much!

Grace insisted I wear the hat. Looks like I'm wearing a BONNET - ha!

We couldn't come to Savannah and not have lunch at Paula Deen's restaurant! Dessert was my favorite!

Hudson shares my sweet tooth. He found this candle for me - the "Ooey Gooey Butter Cake" candle because it reminded him of the "super yummy bestest delicious" dessert he'd just had.

We found this cute little shop - Kitchens on the Square - and did a little shopping.  I just love their "shopping bags"!

Later in the day we headed back to Tybee to do a little more exploring. No one but me wanted to tour this lighthouse, but they all went along with it and I think they ended up liking it even though it was HOT! It's the Tybee Island Light Station and Museum - 16th tallest lighthouse in the US!

The view from the top! Worth all 178 steps!

So windy at the top, but so much fun!!

Holding on to my babies for dear life!!

We are so used to go, go, go that I just relish the downtime we have anytime we're on vacation. I love moments like this, right smack in the middle of the day!

A little miniature golf to close out our day...

One of my favorite memories from our vacation was the bumper cars at Island Miniature Golf and Games!  Something so simple and common, but we just had a blast.  We were the only ones in there and the girl let us go an extra long time.  Safe to say that every.single.member of our family is 
C O M P E T I T I V E - ha! 

Dinner and a gorgeous sunset on the pier...oh how I wish we could just go on vacation all the time - ha!

I tried to take a couple of nice pics of the littles and this little fella...oh my! That look though!! *bless it*