Savannah

We went to Savannah, for an hour. Seriously, it was SO HOT AND HUMID-we couldn't take it. We had done it all before, so it wasn't a biggie. However, we needed to stop at this awesome candy kitchen we remembered from before. Not only were they making fresh candy and giving free samples of their chocolate deliciousness, but they had all of the "old school" candy there as well. You want Big League Chew-they got it, Root Beer Barrels-they got it, everything you can imagine, plus more-and everything covered in chocolate.......the kids were in heaven, and annoyed with the picture taking..but I am talking about barrels of candy-literally!

We had lunch at the Pirate House, supposedly a true pirate hangout back in the day, and I have two stories for you after the cute pictures.....

Anyone remember when I was stressing about Abram not eating meat of any kind, besides McDonald's chicken nuggets (gag, I know). And how I tried the ol' "You'll sit at the table

until your finished." and it didn't work, and how he would get so upset he would throw

up all over the table because he didn't want to eat? And how I cried and stressed over it?

If I wasn't feeling so lazy, I would link you to a post. It was stressful, and I was worried-

something has happened this past year-tastebud change, maybe? I don't know. But on

vacation this 5 1/2 year old went crazy and tried so many new things-crab, shrimp,

cole slaw, fish sticks, and while we were looking at the menu he asked, "Does this

place have cheeseburgers?" and I tried not to look shocked and told him I thought

for sure they did, but he would have to eat it if he ordered one. Abram said, in a

matter of fact way, "I really think I would like a cheeseburger."

And he did.

I almost cried a little.

And yes, yes I did take a picture to document this moment.

The last time I was at this restaurant there was a "pirate" walking around looking/acting/sounding just like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Carribean. No joke, he was great. We did see a pirate this time around-however, I am assuming this was the "kid friendly" pirate as he had a very effeminate voice and a "bless your heart" kind of English accent. I am sure there might have been pirates with such a voice/bad accent back in the day, but it was hard not to have my mouth hang open when he whipped out his flute and acted like he could play so that we could "dance to a jig" or told us of sailing the seas and having "adventures". Especially when he avoided all of Abram's pirate expert questions about sword fighting and treasure hunting to go hang out at another table with kids who weren't old enough to talk-I am pretty suspicious that he might not be a pirate afterall.....

As you can see, he was an awfully clean cut pirate too. On our way out, we saw a more realistic looking pirate. Abram shouted, "Look a real pirate!!" and made some conversation.  The pirate obliged and answered his questions enthusiastically (complete with a pirate accent). As we were walking away, Abram said, "MOM! Did you see his teeth?! He must've been a real pirate!" I couldn't tell if his teeth were "in character" or not, but he could have definitely given some pointers to the guy we saw.

P.S. I am having blogger issues-I don't know why the type in this post looks bizarre-working on it. it could be karma after making fun of "kid friendly pirate".

Then There Were Dolphins.....

I told Kris-2 things I want to do while at the beach-go to the Crab Shack, and go on a dolphin tour. There were times when we lived in Savannah, we would go to the beach and just see them jumping-I wanted the kids to see it too. I found this dolphin tour that was highly recomended (thanks TripAdvisor!). So we went along with Captain Mike and got to see some dolphins....(by the way, sorry for the boring text, I am trying to push through this whole vacation posting so I can fill you in on the rest of the stuff we've been up to)...

Waiting for the boat to go.....
 
 Seeing Pelicans....and their poop...


Abram: Kate, did you know that I saw a dolphin that got bit by a Cookie Cutter Shark? (in a book)

Kate stares...

Abram: But don't worry Kate, dolphins are (flexes muscles and looks at her googly eyes fully of intensity) very, V-ERY STRONG!"

 

This isn't the best picture (below), but it's proof I was on vacation too....

And what to do after a long morning at sea (ocean, whatever)? Ice cream....oh yes-
chocolate ice cream.....I thought it cost close to a million dollars because we were on vacation-no, it's because the cone weighed probably 3 lbs each, of pure awesomeness......

Sunday Travelougue

On Sunday we went to church where we lived when Abram was a wee babe. I was SO excited to see old friends and we were invited over for lunch-except that I couldn't stop coughing. I don't know if I was trying to get sick, or it was just really bad allergies, but I. Could. Not. Stop. Coughing. It wasn't the casual-clear your throat-cough. It was the-shield your children-give me dirty looks for not wearing a face mask/been a chain smoke for most of my life-cough. When we woke up Kris told me he thought I should stay home. I pouted because he may have been right. I don't know if he felt sorry for me or what, but with 15 MINUTES til we had to leave he said, "Oh, just come on.." and we did. I felt a lot better, but all during sacrament (where it seemed to be unusually quiet) I could not control myself from coughing-I got up to get a drink, went and splashed water on my face, found an old sucker in my purse and broke it off the stick and tried to suck on it-nothing worked. So we chatted for a little while with friends and freaked out about how much kids grew in the past 5 years, and had to leave. I was SO sad, I made some AWESOME friends there and wanted to catch up, but there just wasn't enough time-and really, who wants someone to come over for lunch and cough all over your house and kids?

We all went back to "our fake house" as Abram named it, took a nap and that night we flew a kite and walked to the pier. Did I mention we ate just about every meal out on the porch? It was heavenly.

We tried to get a "group kid" picture with 6 kids ages 5 and under. Easy peasy, right?

Oh Oh, sun's too bright-hang on a sec...

Uh, Isaac-can you sit on the swing? Reese! Look over here! Layla, Sam doesn't want to be hugged in the picture!

Abram! Look at the camera! Isaac-the swing! Kate, is your hair caught?! Forget it, let's fly a kite.

And be cheesy....

and take cute photogenic family pictures.....

while NOT getting in the water....

and vow to never again wear and extra large white tshirt and allow someone to take a picture of you from behind....

while making up a fun game...

and then walk to the pier where-oh look!! That teenage boy caught a.....wait, is that a........

why yes, yes that is a BABY SHARK CAUGHT OFF THE PIER LESS THAN 1/2 MILE WHERE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY HAVE BEEN SWIMMING!!!!! And you know, where there is a baby........

The Crab Shack

We went to the Crabshack one night while we were there. It's a really fun place with outdoor eating and a pit of alligators to feed while you wait. Unfortunately, my camera battery decided to die-fortunately, my family is awesome and took some pictures for me.

 Reese started becoming really un-enthusiastic about taking pictures. He would make this face and say, "Cheese" in the most monotone voice. It was hilarious, and you are sure to see some more of those photos as I continue with our travelogue.

I wanted to get a few pictures at the table and compare them to when we all were there the last time, but I was to busy cracking CRAB LEGS for my five year old!! I don't know what got into him, he was all about trying new foods on vacation.

The Beach, the beach, the beach....

My sister, two cousins, myself, and our families went to the beach this year for vacation. 8 adults and 6 kids under the age of 6 in a house together. It was the best week of the Summer. We all had been counting down-I was seriously contemplating making a paper chain, but thought that many links might be depressing. The day finally came and the family came down the night before the big trip. It also happened to be Cow Appreciation Day at Chickfila-you know where this is going...

The kids were amazed at the ocean-Abram hadn't been since he was a year old (and at the same beach).  And speaking of cows, we were following this trailer full of cows at one point in our trip-in my cousin Lisa's WHITE SUV and the trailer started "leaking" by the time we figured out what the "leaking" was, we were using the windshield wipers to wipe COW PEE off of the car and gagging and screaming, "NOOOO!"

Not cool cows....not cool.
We got to the house and decided to go immediately to the beach. Our house was a short walk away. The kids were a little overwhelmed, but soooo excited.

I am a little unsure about the order of things, as it all seems a blur now-so I will hit the highlights. We built our first sandcastle.......

We buried Kris. He was such a good sport. I don't know who's idea it was to make him 2 feet shorter, but it was hilarious.

 

There was A LOT of boogie boarding.......

 Aunt Natalie figured out why we can't throw chips (even if they are just crumbs that fall in the sand)...

Did the Baywatch run......

And just hung out....

I just realized this trip might take a few posts.....