We had a GREAT time at the beach with the Megow family and then came a rough week for me. For sure the most emotional one I’ve had this pregnancy and probably one of the most emotional in a long time even before then! I was thankful that all the tough stuff happen the week between such wonderful vacations. Our yearly trip to St. Augustine for the 4th is hands-down my favorite vacation of the year and Zach and I agreed that this years trip was the BEST one yet (you can see last years trip here and the year before’s here)!!!
This year we stayed at the Inn at Camanchee Harbor. We first stayed there for Brandon and Chrissy’s wedding and LOVED it so we’ve decided to make it our yearly spot. It was GREAT getting to stay somewhere that we’ve already stayed because we knew certain things to pack and exactly what to expect. Plus they are pet friendly, have free wifi, and are centrally located. Next year we need to remember to pack an extension cord (I remembered one last second b/c I’m a baller), some outside toys for the porch, plates, cups and silverware (which I also remembered this year), some type of tub for the baby (they only have a shower – the only REAL negative about the room), some magnet toys for the fridge, a baby gate for the porch, and some Lysol wipes for us to wipe down the outdoor table to bring inside again!
We left Friday July 1st to head down there. Zach said he wished we’d just stayed 3 nights instead of 4 to save the money, but I’m so glad we were able to get down there and get settled in so we could start the day off great on Saturday. We left after Kye’s nap and made it down at dinner time so we stopped through KFC on the way in. We never get KFC so it was a special treat and Zach was pumped about buying the bucket of chicken 😉
Kye approved!
We had a little downtime before Kye had to go to bed and he enjoyed his favorite things about hotel rooms: playing with the phone and jumping on the bed. He LOVED our room and seriously didn’t ever want to go anywhere! He STILL (a month later) talks about our “beach house” and how he wants to go there again. I’m already counting down for next years trip!
Kye goes to bed at 7:30…that means it’s time to watch The Office
! I thought to take a picture of this b/c it IS something we’ll look back and laugh at one day. We bring in our portable dvd player from the car to watch on that with our headphones so it doesn’t wake up Kye. Our new car dvd player came with two screens so it works out great that we each get our own little screen to watch. We watched a TON of this season while we were there…watched it every night for several hours. During the day when Kye napped we napped too. I’m telling you I got spoiled 🙂
Saturday morning we started the day off right with free breakfast. The place we stay gives each person in the room a free breakfast at a little restaurant within walking distance! They give you 3-4 choices off the menu to choose from even…but all three of us got bacon, egg and cheese biscuits 😉
Kye discovered his LOVE of bacon!
I was PRAYING we wouldn’t have rain issues like we did last year and I was SO happy when we were able to enjoy a beautiful morning at the beach together. Seriously our most FUN beach visit we’ve ever had so far! We went first thing after breakfast and got done before lunch, but it was just the right amount of time. It totally makes us want to buy a beach house down there someday. Maybe we can hardcore Dave Ramsey it and pay this house off soon so we can afford to do that! Here’s our pics from the beach morning:
so excited, he immediately took off his shoes to run in
Who goes on a BEACH trip and forgets to pack a BATHING SUIT? Yup, my husband!
We have a favorite beach spot in St Augustine and it really is perfect. It’s a public beach but no one seems to know about it because every time we’ve gone there it’s been pretty empty. Plus it’s less than three minutes from the hotel!
I LOVE the joy you can see in this picture
He loved running back and forth to the water…
and throwing sand/sea shells in it. I’d say “look Kye! a pretty sea shell!” and he’d grab it then throw it in the water right away (such a BOY).
Our FAVORITE thing about going to the beach on this trip was that Zach and I were able to just sit in our chairs and watch Kye play. We didn’t have to chase him down or stand right over him to make sure he didn’t eat sand, drowned, etc. He’s at SUCH an easy age and it’s so great. We savored every second since we know next year’s trip will involve a little baby to be watching 🙂 We spread out our chairs and Kye played in between the two of us for a good 30-40 minutes!
LOVED relaxing with my toes dipped in the water!
I just kept thinking about Blitzen and how excited I am for him or her to share this with us next summer!
We may have been a little lazy but we still did plenty of playing with Kye too!
In this “game” Kye wanted to fill his bucket with water then take it to the sand, dump it out, and refill it. I figured it gave me a semi-work out so I played along!
love his little tongue sticking out
Zach thought this was an ADORABLE picture of us playing…I hated to burst his bubble but a) I look like I have a turd in my bottoms and b) I look like I legitamently am missing a leg
We left the beach at 11ish so we could go back to the hotel and play in the pool (there isn’t a rinse off station at the beach so we use the pools hose to rinse off then swim for a few minutes). That way we still had time to change and go eat lunch at the park as a family picnic! Kye really enjoyed getting to drive the car from the pool to our room (it’s in the same parking lot but too far to walk).
For lunch we hit up Subway (I wonder who begged for that??? hehe) and took it over to Davenport Park. It was also only a 2 minute drive or so from our room. I’m telling you that place ROCKS. It was difficult to get Kye to enjoy his lunch before running off to play but I still enjoyed mine – SOAKED In oil and vinegar just how I like it 😉
I’m wearing my bardot earrings and bardot spiral bracelet
waiting his turn to ride the carousel!
Kye LOVES riding the “horseys” at Wild Adventures and enjoyed riding the carousel last year on our trip so I was excited for us to get to ride it again this year. Plus it’s only $1! How could you visit St Augustine and not go ride it?!?!
Daddy did a good job taking pics huh? I love this one!
Z was proud of this “artsy” one 😉
We took turns ROARING at the people as we went by them…
it may have been a very boyish game but it was fun!
After the carousel we let Kye play at the playground until it was nap time!
Climbed up this all on his own (Daddy didn’t get to see his jump ‘n jacks climbing skills so he was impressed)
Kye’s favorite thing to do at any playground is swing
I always tell him to reach up and touch the trees or the sky!
SUCH a happy boy! Family vacations make us ALL happy!
43 pictures and that was only the MORNING of the FIRST DAY. I even tried to edit them down some! I’m sorry but every single one makes me smile and makes me happy to remember such a wonderful vacation 🙂 Much more ahead!
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That park is our favorite!