More beach and the beginning of Disney

Wow, my creative titles are astounding, no?

{eddie was so in love with all of the "creatures" that we found on the beach. this hermet crab was his favorite, and i even promised him that we could get one when we got home. he forgot :) }

{one of the many, many cargo ships that we saw going by our beach house. so neat}

{a horrible picture, but one of the few i have showing how much eddie hugs on finn}

{finney and his favorite foot at Uncle Bubba's}

{isn't uncle bubba's view just gorgeous? these marshes are what made me fall in love with this area}

{eddie and frankie watching the oyster men at Uncle Bubba's}

The next morning we got up early, threw the boys in the car and headed out for a surprise trip for Eddie. We just kept telling him that we were going to see Brooke, and that had him excited enough. Let me be totally honest, though, the drive Tybee to Disney was worse than our drive from Chicago to Tybee. Far, far worse. Eddie whined, Finney cried and it seemed like it took ages. Have you ever tried to nurse a baby while hanging over a carseat with your butt in your preschooler's face? No? Well lucky you. We were planning on going to a park right when we got there, but threw that idea to the wind around hour 4 of screaming. A nice calm pool day sounded much better! 

{eddie face when he woke up and figured out that we were a DISNEY WORLD!!}

{we stayed at the all star sports, because we got an awesome deal and we figured small was ok since we were only going to be there for a night}

{finn, totally spaced out with his first mickey}

{eddie playing with his sword from check in}

{the pool area}

{eddie playing pool games}

{ask for adults and you know I'm there!}

{we won candy!! woot}

{finney loved the pool, but eventually had to give into a nap. And it was freaking adorable.}

That night we grabbed some dinner from the Cheesecake Factory and Eddie was practically asleep before we even buckled his seat belt. I ran into target for a few things before dinner and came back to a locked car of sleeping boys, and had to wait until frank woke up to open the damn door. Crazy men! We drove around the Resorts after that, and while I seriously toyed with the idea of trying to get in on the preview of the new resort, I chickened out at the gate, lol. Yes, for those of you that don't know, I am a huge Disney dork. Don't get me wrong, though, I don't worship Mickey Mouse or wear any gear. I am in love with the imagineering and creativity that goes into every ounce of that place. I find it fascinating! In fact, you'll find out what made me cry happy tears in the next post.....

Just beachy

Let's get on with this show, shall we? We were finally at the beach!

{we woke up ready to play!! unfortunately so did tropical storm Alberto. He didn't give us much trouble, though...just a little rain and wind}

{finney, offering kisses to Alberto to leave}

{ha! i took this picture because as frankie was cookie breakfast in this beautiful kitchen with this beautiful view, all I could think was....my husband is hot! lol}

{hmmm....}

{kinda funny.....}

{sooooo funny!!!}

{it's silly nanna and Eddie playing peek-a-boo!}

{eddie decided he was on the wrong side of the couch, lol}

{soon Alberto got the message and brought out the sun...Finney's first sandy bottom}

{and his first time with toes in the saltwater}

{family love}

{yes, finn is eating sand. for the whole day he kept trying to eat it! something must have clicked the next day though, because we didn't have much trouble after the first day}

{covered in sand. just covered}

{aw, mom and dad walking to the lighthouse. we came for their anniversary trip! so romantic having your daughter, son in law and two grandsons tag along, right?}

{eddie's beach life. digging, digging and more digging. before we left he told me that he wanted to build a sand castle big enough to sit in, and the next morning i woke up determined to deliver!}

{gah, so cute!}

{there was a creature in there, peacefully sleeping...forever}

{this trip cemented eddie's love of boats. he would watch them all day long}

{were you wondering how i cleaned off the sand man?}

{don't worry, he loved it!}

{alberto did give us a nice sunset that evening, which eddie loved}

{grandpa's boy for sure}

{eddie was obsessed with his 'noculars, which he had around his neck pretty much all day and night}

{he's a genius, i know}

{oh, wee little electric car. I loved this thing! I only bumped into a couple things...hehe :) my parents are the one who took it on the road off the island that was 55mph, while this thing only goes a whopping 26mph. Ha! Eddie loved it just as much as me, though, and was so sad whenever he learned we couldn't take it somewhere}

{turning left out of our little neighborhood was the worst. THE WORST. At least I looked confident, right?}

Can you believe this was only the first day? Apparently I was a little camera happy. Some more beach pictures and DISNEY!! coming up. 

Day Two...we arrive!

Day two started in the smokey mountains and thankfully delivered us to Tybee Island, Georgia in time to enjoy the last of a beautiful day.

{smoke in the smokies}

{i still wasn't allowed to drive}

{so beautiful. because of the road closures we were sent around on little backroads through the mountains. It was such an awesome experience, one we were thankful for while we were still in nostalgic road trip mode. We saw some sights that were off the beaten path, for sure!}

{my brooding teenager}

{we would take a long stop every now and then, and this rest stop was our favorite. This deck was Eddie's pirate ship and he shouted "Ahoy there!" to anyone that walked by. It was awesome}

{a little smokey mountain baseball}

{love}

{last bridge!}

{the boys checking out the amazing view!}

{little house, Maine Page}

{eddie's first time with his toes in the ocean}

{love at first sight}

{dad, carrying finney very safely}

{better!}

{no finn, don't do it!}

{alligators at the Crab Shack}

{our first vacation dinner. it went down hill fast}

{a note: when you've been in a car all day and have crabby, tired and restless kids, DON'T take them to a restaurant and expect them to behave. Everyone was out of patience by the end and all agreed we should have just ordered a pizza, lol}

{trying to keep the crabby at bay}

{boy, was it a beautiful view, though}

{our giant seafood platter, which, after a while, was quite gross}

{we don't eat crawfish, so we play with them instead}

So we're finally at the beach. Yay!! The rest of the night included me running, supermarket sweep style, through the tiny island grocery store as the ladies waiting to close gave me the stink eye. The locals were SO pleasant. NOT.