Jykell Island

After going to the Sea Turtle Center, we did some exploring on the island.  We ended up parking in the 4H conference center lot and using their beach access.  When we got on the beach we found a homeschool group being taught by 4H workers.  They graciously let our cute kids join their group and we saw some amazing things.....

Horseshoe Crab

crab

crab

Jr. Rangers

I found old posts that I never published on vacation because the internet was sketchy.  Here they are...


Michael and I have been enjoying this vacation so much because for the first time in 8 years we both are sleeping in.  We let the girls watch shows in the morning and eat granola bars and the boys roll out of bed at some point before we do and join them.  Maybe I should feel bad about this lack of parenting but I don't.  It's been amazing!

So once we get our lazy butts out of bed we slowly get ready for the day.  Feed the kids lunch and we're off on adventures.  We generally get back to the condo by dinnertime and then just hang out here until bed.  It's been so relaxing.

Today we went to Fort Frederica and the kids became Jr. Rangers.  They were insanely excited and are taking their new roles seriously.  They even have badges to show for it.

The Fort was really beautiful.  Michael and the boys learned a lot about the history of it while the girls and I took in the lovely surroundings.  While we were all near the water we spotted some dolphins swimming near the bay.  A dolphin sighting was one of my goals for the week- check!

Tired baby girl

Watching a video about the fort

Marilyn Monroe moment

If you look really closely, you can see a dolphin

Being sworn in as Jr. Rangers

Proud badge owners

Accurate Adoption Language

I just stumbled on this tonight and I think it's so great I have to share it.  I think a lot of times people refrain from asking us about adoption because they don't know the correct terminology.  I think it'd be great to spread this info around.

Michael is really good at quickly letting people know when they have used the wrong terminology when referring to our "own" kids.  He's really straight forward, yet gentle about making sure everyone knows all of our children are our own.

Words have implications.  Even if the speaker doesn't mean them to hurt, sometimes a misspoken word can cause deep pain.  There are few terms on this list I need to work on....

 https://www.adoptioncouncil.org/images/stories/Accurate_Adoption_Language.pdf

More Fun in the Sun

We went to the Coast Guard Station on St. Simons.  The kids had a blast at the beach.  The boys dug and dug.  The girls ran around like crazy. 

Michael buried the girls.

After the boys dug their hole they jumped in and asked to be buried. 

We went walking on the Pier in town that night after eating at Joe's Pizza.

The boys said the bread sticks were the best they have ever had.

One of the fishermen showed us a hammerhead shark he caught 

and let the kids touch it. They loved it.

While everyone else was playing I was on to my second book of the week trying to avoid sun damage. It's safe to say I won the prize of the most covered person at the beach that day

St Simons Island

We're loving our time here. The kids are enjoying the pond outside our backdoor, tennis courts, pool, and the beach.

We found some amazing shells at Jykell Island yesterday. We're excited for the sand dollars to dry out.

Today was another day at the beach. Filled with lots of digging holes and swimming. We had pizza at Joe's. The kids said the breadsticks were the best they've ever had and the pizza was huge.

Carolina on my mind

We love hanging with my sister's awesome family. As we were turning into their subdivision Caleb said "I have butterflies in my stomach because I'm so excited to see them".