Flagler College, St. Augustine, FL
Happy Monday Friends! This weekend we traveled to Amelia Island, Florida to attend a family funeral. Devin's sweet grandfather, who we all called "Pop" recently passed away in his sleep at age 95. While we were all devastated to hear of his passing, we were also relieved that he went in such a peaceful way.
We made the 6 hour drive on Thursday night, thinking it would be easiest on Lily Grace if she slept in the car on the way down. Like any of the rest of us, LG does not sleep well if she isn't in her own bed. This girl was up bright and early at 5:30 am ready to play... her dad on the other hand, needed to sleep in a little longer. So Lil and I walked over to Fernandina Beach to watch the "sunrise" (it was a little too foggy to actually see it) and chase the seagulls on the beach.
I am very much a morning person, and usually wake up between 4:30-5:00 to either get my work out in or lay in bed and drink my coffee/read the news/read my book. So needless to say I loved having this special one on one time with my girl at the beach.
After the beach, we went to "downtown", aka the Fernandina Beach Historic District and drove around. I was driving, so obviously didn't snap any pictures, but wanted to show you how adorable the historic district is. Here is a pic from Google Images:
Devin and I first came here in 2010 when he wanted to introduce me, his then girlfriend, to his grandparents. They were so sweet and took us out to eat in the town, showed us their church and walked through all the shops with us. We finished with some ice cream and fudge on a bench. We have tried to go back to visit at least once a year since then and love our visits with Nonie and Pop.
After the funeral, we needed to drive a little over an hour to South Jacksonville, FL where several of Devin's Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins live and Nonie and Pop had recently moved to. Somebody was a little too tired after the busy-ness of the morning and passed out in the car.
We spent the rest of the day with family and friends remembering Pop. When Lily Grace was ready for bed around 6:30 pm, I took her back to the hotel and came thiiiiiiis close to falling asleep then too. Instead, I opened up a bottle of wine and finished my book. Is there a better way to end a day? Because I was in heaven!
The next morning, at 5 am, my little human alarm clock woke up ready to play. But after a long night staying up with his family, Devin wanted to sleep in again (this is NOT the norm, I swear! He is usually up with us in the mornings, but this was an emotionally draining weekend for him and his family). So LG and I put on some clothes, headed to the first Starbucks we could find (so, you know, like .5 mile away), and decided to go on another adventure. I have always wanted to see St. Augustine and it is only about 25 minutes from where we were staying, so we hit the road! We made it to St. Augustine shortly before sunrise and had a GREAT time.
Have any of you been to St. Augustine before? I had always heard/read such nice things about it, but I as floored by how adorable it is. It reminds me of an older, Spanish version of Charleston. Apparently it is the oldest city in America, who knew?? (Probably a lot of you, but not me!) We walked around the fort and LG had a blast running up and down the hills saying "Wheeeee" "Mommy's turn" (to run and say "wheee"), and "Lily's turn". She also attempts to count "1,2,3" but it comes out more like "2,2,2". It was so stinking cute.
We walked around the fort and saw the cannons. She loved touching the back of the cannon and saying "BOOM!" as loud as she could.
After a little while longer playing at the fort, we started walking around the city and stumbled across Flagler College. Both Devin and my sister Jenni considered Flagler when applying to schools and Jenni came thiiiiiis close to going there and playing on their volleyball team. She ended up in Hawaii instead-- not exactly a bad choice.
Lily Grace loves to read and loves the library at home, so we stopped to take a picture in front of the library.
I sent these pictures to some of my girlfriends and one of them made the comment: "I love going to places like this and thinking "How is this in America??" It's so cool and feels like a hidden secret".
Around 8:00 Dev called to say he was up so we headed back to join him for breakfast. We spent some more time with family, took a nap as a family in the afternoon, and then began the trek home.
Sunday morning was spent catching up on laundry, playing with toys we hadn't played with in a few days (it was like they were brand new again!), and grocery shopping. Then we finally got around to taking down our Christmas decorations...
And then all went to the indoor pool at the Y for a swim.
It was a busy weekend, but one well spent for sure. Have a great week!
Happy Monday Friends! This weekend we traveled to Amelia Island, Florida to attend a family funeral. Devin's sweet grandfather, who we all called "Pop" recently passed away in his sleep at age 95. While we were all devastated to hear of his passing, we were also relieved that he went in such a peaceful way.
We made the 6 hour drive on Thursday night, thinking it would be easiest on Lily Grace if she slept in the car on the way down. Like any of the rest of us, LG does not sleep well if she isn't in her own bed. This girl was up bright and early at 5:30 am ready to play... her dad on the other hand, needed to sleep in a little longer. So Lil and I walked over to Fernandina Beach to watch the "sunrise" (it was a little too foggy to actually see it) and chase the seagulls on the beach.
After the beach, we went to "downtown", aka the Fernandina Beach Historic District and drove around. I was driving, so obviously didn't snap any pictures, but wanted to show you how adorable the historic district is. Here is a pic from Google Images:
Devin and I first came here in 2010 when he wanted to introduce me, his then girlfriend, to his grandparents. They were so sweet and took us out to eat in the town, showed us their church and walked through all the shops with us. We finished with some ice cream and fudge on a bench. We have tried to go back to visit at least once a year since then and love our visits with Nonie and Pop.
After the funeral, we needed to drive a little over an hour to South Jacksonville, FL where several of Devin's Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins live and Nonie and Pop had recently moved to. Somebody was a little too tired after the busy-ness of the morning and passed out in the car.
We spent the rest of the day with family and friends remembering Pop. When Lily Grace was ready for bed around 6:30 pm, I took her back to the hotel and came thiiiiiiis close to falling asleep then too. Instead, I opened up a bottle of wine and finished my book. Is there a better way to end a day? Because I was in heaven!
The next morning, at 5 am, my little human alarm clock woke up ready to play. But after a long night staying up with his family, Devin wanted to sleep in again (this is NOT the norm, I swear! He is usually up with us in the mornings, but this was an emotionally draining weekend for him and his family). So LG and I put on some clothes, headed to the first Starbucks we could find (so, you know, like .5 mile away), and decided to go on another adventure. I have always wanted to see St. Augustine and it is only about 25 minutes from where we were staying, so we hit the road! We made it to St. Augustine shortly before sunrise and had a GREAT time.
Have any of you been to St. Augustine before? I had always heard/read such nice things about it, but I as floored by how adorable it is. It reminds me of an older, Spanish version of Charleston. Apparently it is the oldest city in America, who knew?? (Probably a lot of you, but not me!) We walked around the fort and LG had a blast running up and down the hills saying "Wheeeee" "Mommy's turn" (to run and say "wheee"), and "Lily's turn". She also attempts to count "1,2,3" but it comes out more like "2,2,2". It was so stinking cute.
We walked around the fort and saw the cannons. She loved touching the back of the cannon and saying "BOOM!" as loud as she could.
After a little while longer playing at the fort, we started walking around the city and stumbled across Flagler College. Both Devin and my sister Jenni considered Flagler when applying to schools and Jenni came thiiiiiis close to going there and playing on their volleyball team. She ended up in Hawaii instead-- not exactly a bad choice.
Lily Grace loves to read and loves the library at home, so we stopped to take a picture in front of the library.
I sent these pictures to some of my girlfriends and one of them made the comment: "I love going to places like this and thinking "How is this in America??" It's so cool and feels like a hidden secret".
Around 8:00 Dev called to say he was up so we headed back to join him for breakfast. We spent some more time with family, took a nap as a family in the afternoon, and then began the trek home.
Sunday morning was spent catching up on laundry, playing with toys we hadn't played with in a few days (it was like they were brand new again!), and grocery shopping. Then we finally got around to taking down our Christmas decorations...
And then all went to the indoor pool at the Y for a swim.
It was a busy weekend, but one well spent for sure. Have a great week!
I grew up in Jacksonville and loved the history of St. Augustine when I was a kid and even as I got older!! I'm sorry that you had to travel there for a funeral.
ReplyDeleteOh no way! It was beautiful and we definitely enjoyed the warmer weather.
DeleteSt. Augustine is beautiful - I had no idea! I'm so sorry to hear about your family's loss, but that's awesome that you were able to go out and explore. My son (now 15) was always such an early riser. I am as well, so it never bothered me. But there was a phase when he was waking up around 4:30am and it was exhausting! Have a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteYes! It sure makes for a long morning before naptime!
DeleteI'm so sorry about your family's loss. Even when the person has lived a long and happy life-it's still awful.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my state! Amelia Island is one of my very favorite places to visit. St. Augustine too! Both places are very charming, and fun to walk around! It looks like you got to see a lot while you were visiting. I'm an early riser too, so I loved hearing about your early morning adventures!
Kristen www.pugsandpearls.com
Thanks Kristen. It was such a nice weekend despite the reason we were there. I'm itching to get back to St. Augustine to see more of it!
Delete