If you've learned anything about us yet, it's that we like to get around, which sometimes means a lot of driving. Call me crazy, but whenever possible I prefer driving to flying. To me it seems a lot less stressful in some ways when you are with babies - checking in the baggage, trying not to stress other passengers out with noisy children, never stopping and taking a break, etc etc. Haha, plus these days it's less expensive it seems like if you travel like us :). We love our Marriott card which enables us to stay at hotels by using our points. Flying occasionally (especially for long trips across the US) is great, but I like driving too. I also love seeing where we are going a little closer. Maybe it's because I have fun memories growing up of my family taking our 1973 (?) family camper across the US.
For this trip we rented a car which made it new and exciting in some ways. It didn't have a cd player unfortunately (our go to for entertainment) so we went Jacob style and did a lot of singing and talking and reading books instead (which was actually a lot of fun). We like to stop along the way and see historical or fun places (Nate uses trip advisor and does his homework before we leave...thank you sweetie!) This time we stopped in North Carolina to see a Revolutionary War battle site (Eutah Springs), then Savannah Georgia the first night and wandered through that charming old city the next morning. Of course we had to see the Forest Gump bench again - mostly because it's in such a beautiful part of town. Into Florida we stopped at an iconic fast food restaurant called 'Whataburger'...which was a cheap way to get a taste of southern culture. Then in Florida we drove to St Augustine - the first settlement in America that we know of - settled by the Spanish which was beautiful. Our boys loved exploring the fortress, and I loved the cool ocean breeze and sunshine! Of course the best part (and biggest reason we drove to Florida) was seeing Nate's family. It was heaven. We love them so much. They were kind enough to meet up with us at the Military resort we were staying at in Disney World and even took us to dinner. We also spent a day with them at Sea World (more pictures to come). Such a fun reunion!
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| Eutah Springs - the battle that pushed the British out of North Carolina (we still love our Brits though :)) |
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| This picture cracks me up. Mason on the ipad :) - which we pulled out on occasion for fun. I like that this one has educational things on it as well as fun things for people his age - since he doesn't quite grasp yet the significance of these places. ha! |
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| I just can't get enough of those cheeks!! |
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| "Mama always said - life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get". True to our lives as well....except we'll probably never physically run across the United States or win Olympic medals :)...but you never know! |
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| a first time for us! |
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| a nice stranger offered to take this picture for us. |
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| showing Stanley the ropes of shooting a cannon :) |
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| the lookout point |
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| Mason's sunglasses though! He has pretty sensitive eyes like me and Nate, so he usually likes to wear them outside. |
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| can you tell i'm just a little bit obsessed with this place - and my white dress from Old Navy that I "stole" for $13. It was the best and most comfortable thing you can imagine to have on that hot day! |
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| Stanley (just like Mason back in the day) pushing his stroller, rather than riding in it :). At least it carries out bags for us. |
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| sorry to that random couple we took a pic of - but I love this Lion of St Augustine and made Nate take a drive by photo of it |
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| the boat ride to the second fortress that protected the main one. it was free!! what? Mason and I were both happy :). |
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| Stanley par for the course - following his older brother. Mason wanted to climb this ladder - was a little scared at first, but with a little encouragement (and support) from Nate, climbed it and conquered his fears. I love these moments of Nate helping Mason to conquer challenging or scary things. |
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| the older military flag of Spain - the cross of St Andrew I think? |
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| He was so proud of himself...as he should be! :) |
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| the smaller fortress "lookout" |
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| Stan just a little disgruntled that Mason is taking a picture of him :). also his cheeks full of a grape or something! this is us you guys! |
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| "the reunion"...so much love in this family!! |
