St Simons Island Beach Getaway

Ahhhh, if I look at these pictures and close my eyes, I am back there again. We went to the beach with my family to St Simons Island, GA for a couple glorious days! This year was different since we normally always go to Mom and Dad's beach house in Seabrook but unfortunately for us and fortunately for them, it got rented all summer long. We knew we still wanted to have a beach vacation though so my parents rented a fantastic house in St Simons. We actually went there 13 years ago when my parents first moved to Atlanta but have not been back since so it was fun to go somewhere new. The drive however, all 5.5 hours was not as fun, we are definitely spoiled having Seabrook less than 4 hours from us. 

The house we rented was right across the street from the beach and had it is own pool which was HUGE! We haven't rented a house with a pool before and it was so fantastic. The picture below is from one of the decks that we sat out on ever night looking to the beach!

Ella checking out the view before bedtime

I have to brag for just a minute because I am so proud of my little fish. Mike and I used to joke that Ella's own kids would be swimming before she was. Not because she couldn't do it, because we knew she could but because she is our cautious child and boy did she love her floatie. But the rule that now she is 4 is no more floatie and we happened to take swim lessons from the most amazing swim instructor in Charlotte and after only 4 lessons, she had Ella swimming and diving on her own. The below sequence is what she did literally all day, every day at the pool. Get to the side, do a jump/dive combo...

And into the water she went. She would then usually swim to the noodle or one of us and then swim to the side and repeat. Literally, all day long she would do this. And then take amazing naps because she was so tired from all the swimming which was a real treat for us!

And this little one was a swimming machine also. I am so happy that Ella's old floatie finally fits her this summer. Last summer, I bought every single floatation device on the market but because she was so petite and tiny, none of them worked but this summer it fits and after some hesitation, she loved it and would also jump off the steps in the pool and float around.

This face kills me, this child is so expressive with her face! This is her "I'm so excited to go swimming" face

Just kicking and swimming around the pool on her own. So much better than holding her all last summer like I had to do.

Then, after all the swimming, it was time to relax. This is the life!

This is the deck where we spent every happy hour enjoying the nice breeze and amazing views. These two girls adore their Uncle Court! They love to play with him in the pool and cuddle up to him on the deck and we were excited that we were all together for his birthday.

Ella and her godfather

And of course, this little getaway was made possible by my parents and they sure enjoyed their time with the girls as well.

Someone loves to suck her thumb, like ALL.THE.TIME

We went out to eat for Uncle Court's birthday and while eating out is always a little crazy (ahem, MG, I am talking about you who won't sit still), this time was no exception but the girls did show Uncle Court the love.

The sky one evening, the picture doesn't do it justice but it was so pretty

One night while we were making dinner, Mike and my Dad took the girls to run on the beach and captured these sweet images that I love.

father/daughter selfie

My hope is that these two always remain close because right now they are best friends and it warms my heart so much.

Umm, can we talk about this little lady will be 5 in less than 2 months. Insert Mommy tears, stop growing so fast sweet girl.

And this wee one continues to make us laugh everyday (she was our comedy for the trip, making everyone laugh the entire time) with also a dash of some 2 year old stubbornness.

Off the beach in our hats and sunnies

The water at the ocean was pretty warm and shallow and Ella had the best time just digging and playing by herself. Wow the beach will be so different in a couple years when Maddie is her age and they can both just play like this.

Before we went to dinner for Court's birthday, we all got cleaned up early and attempted some family photos. Below are some good ones we were able to capture.

These girls sure love their DeeDee and Papa! Each morning, they would both get in bed with my parents and all we could hear was sweet laughter.

My parents will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary on June 29th and unfortunately we won't all be together on that day but Court, Mike and I planned a little surprise for them while we were together at the beach. We got a bunch of signs to hang and made them breakfast in bed. Then that night, made them dinner and I put together a video of old photos and then got all their friends and family to send in short video messages congratulating them or telling funny stories and put it in the video. It was complete surprise to them and they loved it. A lot of friends were ones we grew up with in Richmond who they haven't seen in many years so it was nice to hear from them. My parents and Mike's have both been married for 40 years and they are both such great examples for Mike and myself. I loved being able to celebrate with them!

Cheers to fun little getaway! We were all sad to leave the beach but I am glad we made such amazing memories that we will have for a long time to come.