Our Sweet Island Vacation {Part 2}

I'm excited to share more of our vacation! We covered our first day in the first post, so we're catching up to waking up our first morning on the island!

*If you missed part 1 of our vacation, click here to check it out*

We wanted to explore the island and check out the beaches with this day. No real agenda = the best! We did a lot of driving around to see what all was there. It was so fun! Stopping wherever our hearts desired. From the north end to the south end of the island, we wanted to see it all. 

We got turned around at one point in this beautiful neighborhood. These houses! There is so much charm in this area that would remind you of Savannah/Charleston. I loved the historical buildings and all of the charm, all while being on an island with gorgeous relaxing beaches. THAT is why I was so interested in coming to this island the more I researched it. So dreamy! 

Picture perfect neighborhood. We were in awe of this area! 

The two state parks on the island keep the natural integrity of the area and are so beautiful to drive through and enjoy. 

We stopped at all of the beaches on the island except for one (we just didn't get time to go back to that one). This beach was so peaceful! And the homes you can see behind us were jaw dropping - right on the Atlantic Ocean. I could sit out there for days just taking it in. It's the kind of place that feels like it's YOUR beach because so few people are around. (Our hotel was by a busier beach on the island, which still isn't busy by most standards!). 

I searched for the best shells on each beach we visited. When that's your main goal each day, you know you're livin' the life. :) 

View to the right. 

 View to the left. Amazing! The island has 12 miles of these gorgeous beaches to enjoy. 

My handsome man. Taking it in & being patient as I shell-hunt and take photos of the beauty. 

"Wish you were here!" this postcard could say. 

Many streets on the island are lined with these awesome trees. Definitely makes me think of the historic areas of Georgia. So charming! 

This view was on a different beach on the north side of the island. After touring the beaches throughout the day, I learned that every piece of beach on the island is beautiful. 

I researched where to eat before we went on vacation, and this view was highly recommended at one of the restaurants that many people said you had to partake in. The sunset over Amelia River (the land on the other side is mainland, Florida!). 

Watching the sun slowly go down was sure a great way to spend an evening on vacation. 

 I enjoyed a very tasty pina colada. 

We lucked out that the special of the night was fish tacos! We loved eating seafood on this trip. 

We got to see Florida's oldest bar in the sweetly lit downtown area as we explored after dinner. You can hardly see it, but the door was open and there was a guy singing with his guitar. We danced on the sidewalk to his song under the dreamy lights. This is what vacation nights should be like! 

What a great date night. Such a blessing. 

*Here are the rest of the vacation posts*

Amelia Island, FL: Day One

Amelia Island, FL: Day Two

Amelia Island, FL: Day Three

Amelia Island, FL: Day Four 

 Today's Pinspiration:

Yesss! So fitting for this vacation 

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Our Sweet Island Vacation {Part 1}

Ok friends, here's the deal. We went on a great vacation and I took lots of photos. This blog is a bit of a scrapbook since I don't get to scrapbook anymore, so I'll post lots of my photos on here spread out over a couple of blog posts. 

We scheduled the vacation just over 4 weeks out, which was fun because it felt like it was coming so soon and we weren't having to wait forever for it. I had a different trip planned this summer to Utah to Young Living's essential oil convention. I LOVED it last year and would so love to be there, but as it got closer and we tried to plan my expenses out, Nick noted that we could take a trip wherever we wanted together for the same cost. We both thought about it, and the more I let that idea simmer, the more excited I got about a vacation for the two of us. We haven't had a true vacation just the two of us to go wherever we wanted since our honeymoon nearly 7 years ago. 

I researched places that sounded great and relaxing - Colorado, North Carolina, Tennessee - all beautiful places. I just kept thinking back to Florida though and how nice it would be to find a less busy beach to enjoy with other things to explore nearby. But I didn't want to be overwhelmed by too many things to do to enjoy it either. I wanted this vacation to be a relaxing getaway. I honed in on researching islands in Florida that aren't too busy, have charm, and aren't going to feel like Spring Break week with the wild young kids in bikinis everywhere. (Does that make me sound old?! ;)). I ended up finding the perfect island and researched everything about it and tried to convince Nick this was the place. Thankfully he agreed!

* Fast forward 4 weeks to the vacation* 

Even the views from the plane were beautiful on our way out to Orlando. There weren't many clouds the day we flew in, so for a while, I could tell we were flying over the gulf of Mexico, (I could even see cruise ships in the middle of the ocean below us!) and watched as we approached the FL coast. It was so cool! Not sure which islands these are on the west coast of FL. 

This was as we got closer to the Orlando airport. So pretty! 

Once we landed in Orlando, we drove our way to the island. In typical vacation style, we saw we were driving right by Daytona Beach so decided to stop at the beach to check it out! 

It was really beautiful. Definitely a busier area and busier beach than the island we went to, but I'm glad we stopped while we were driving by! 

Hey Daytona! 

After checking it out, we drove the rest of the way to our sweet island destination. It's a 3ish hour drive from Orlando (but was cheaper to fly into that closer cities). 

Hello, Amelia Island! This was the view of the Atlantic ocean from our patio. It was perfectly what I pictured and hoped for. I was so thankful! The beauty was so much to take in. 

We were so excited to have found a very reasonably priced hotel room on the beach with a balcony.  I took this short video of the view on our balcony on the last morning as we were getting ready to leave. That was the only day we had clouds like that. Such a beautiful view though. 

The weather was absolutely ideal during our whole trip too. And we could both feel how LOW the humidity was there compared to what we're used to. It was so nice! I could sit outside all day and not get tired of it. 

First time checking out the beach right outside our hotel. Sigh. 

We came to realize this island is pretty picture perfect. Plus, we didn't have to deal with lots of people nearby. There were many times the beach felt like "our" beach since we found many spots on the island with very quiet beaches. But on the flip side, we weren't alone on the island, haha:)

The view from where we ate dinner the first night - I'm so glad we did! Dinner right on the beach is a must-have on this island if you ask me. It was a huge perk this place was right next to our hotel too. 

Ocean-side pina colada. :) 

We split a combo platter and it was so good! Mahi Mahi, peal & eat shrimp, crab cakes for Nick, and fresh cole slaw. Makes my mouth water thinking back to it. 

This ghost crab welcomed us to the beach as we walked a bit after dinner! He does blend in quite well. 

*Here are the rest of the vacation posts*

Amelia Island, FL: Day One

Amelia Island, FL: Day Two

Amelia Island, FL: Day Three

Amelia Island, FL: Day Four 

Today's Pinspiration:

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Surprise Omaha Trip & Our First Overnight Guests

We surprised Nick's family a few weekends ago by showing up in Omaha for Hank's 3rd birthday. Our Godson was being baptized the following day there, so it was planned perfectly. 

We arrived at the place they were celebrating his big day and was a great surprise! They had so many fun arcade games, go carts and all kinds of fun. And a buffet which we enjoyed. 

We had fun planning the surprise, and even had thought ahead to take this picture in our pajamas Friday night that we sent to Nick's sister Amber Saturday morning wishing Hank a happy birthday from our home since we couldn't be there ;)  It was so much fun pulling off a great surprise! 

We're always grateful for time with this little guy! Living in CA doesn't allow us to see them as often as we'd like, so it was great to make another trip while they were in Omaha with family. 

 Our Godson Alexander was the perfect baby for his baptism the next day too. He was so relaxed and didn't fuss during his whole time on stage - such a happy boy! We were so glad to get time together with his family & friends at church during that trip. 

Leaving Omaha

Arriving in Dallas

The following weekend, Amber, Hank & Charlie had planned to visit us to see our house on her way back to California. We all walked around the Main Street Arts Festival - it was fun to see what it was all about! 

 Ranger enjoyed admiring his cousin Sammi. He liked to follow her around and try to get her to play with him. Though sometimes once she starts to play, Ranger gets intimidated. It was fun {and funny!} to watch them together. 

Hank enjoying what he claimed to be "his" chair at our place. 

We also got to celebrate Nick's birthday while they were in town. 

The ice cream cake from Dairy Queen was a hit as it always is ;) 

This sweet boy is full of energy and has the funniest things to say. We loved having them stay with us for a few days! 

In other news, Ranger is loving his new house ;) and is finding his favorite spots to hang out.  We're still in the process of getting things settled (it's a patient process, I know). I'm especially excited to get things up on the walls - It seems like that's the point when a house feels more like a home in my experiences. I just love coming home to our house every day though - I am so thankful to be here and enjoy it! These spring storms get a bit nerve wracking hoping we don't have major hail or wind troubles, but it comes with the territory:). 

Today's Pinspiration:

I started working out this week and have been excited to get into a routine of discipline. I like to have goals but tend to lack structure to take small steps to get there. I feel great when I accomplish something small each day toward my goals though! We can do anything we want - each day is a new day to create what we want in our lives. Maybe we have to repeat it over and over to ourselves until we believe it. 

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