Day 2 with the fam at the beach

Day 2 is just gorgeous! This is our view off of the deck.
Michael is a boogie boarding fool!!!

Emmy getting brave

Peris riding a wave in to shore

Ella finding (and scientifically classifying) different shells and coral

Emmy and Peris having a great time

Sand mermaids

Fiona buried up to her neck

Taking a walk

and stopping for shells

and writing messages in the sand

headed back

Nightmare adventures on the beach

Day two-My morning with Michael

Michael and I were early risers on Sunday morning, so we took advantage of it and went out to the beach together. We found some cool shells and then he conquered some waves!
Mom and Michael's Shells

"Watch me Mom! I'm gonna catch a wave!"

"THIS IS AWESOME MOM!"

"MOM I LOVE IT HERE!"

Garden City Beach we're here-Day 1

Atalaya Towers

(Our condo is second set of windows from the left-count 6 floors and that is us)
The view off of our deck

"Who has two thumbs up and loves the beach?"

"Us guys"~Michael and Derek

Our first sunset

The sun sets and we continue to hang out on the beach

Sand creatures

Hanging out on the beach with a great big "I'm not working" smile on his face!

Applemountain Resort, Clarksville, GA

The second bedroom with 3 bump out windows
Derek in the kitchen

The view off of the back deck

View from the kitchen into the dining area and living room

Master bedroom

Master bathroom

Beautiful pool

Hanging at the pool-well worth the drive!

The Ride

Fiona sets the tone for our journey to Georgia (little do we know that we'll need her humor!)

Our meal stop in Kentucky

Michael and I having some fun

This was our undoing! Google maps took us through the Smoky Mountain National

Park. What should've taken us 45 minutes to travel turned into a 2 1/2 hour

NIGHTMARE!!

Michael after puking a long side the road

Almost 14 1/2 hours later and we roll into Applemountain Resort in Clarksville, Georgia

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The first day into our journey started out great!! The kids had DS games that we rented and brand new library books to read. There was no complaining (yes we used strategic seating in the van) and we really had fun. After our lunch stop in Kentucky we broke out a travel treat from Grandma Choo Choo which also occupied quite a bit of time.

Then we got off of the beaten path....Google maps took us off of a normal road and on to a little two lane "highway" (and I use the word highway loosely!!!!!). At first it was charming and scenic, but after about 20 minutes Derek and I both agreed that we were in trouble. The twisty, curvy road was NOT making our travel easy, and we knew we couldn't turn back.

FINALLY we pulled off at a motorcycle pitstop and Derek got directions. We did have about an additional hour before we got on to a 4 lane road, but the guy did give us directions to a McDonalds.

All I will say about that McDonalds in North Carolina is this......when we were leaving, there was a guy selling pit bull puppies out of the back of his truck! The ma ma pit bull was sitting on the top of a tool box in the adjacent truck and didn't look very happy. That entertained Derek and I for miles!!

We did finally roll in to the time share around 11pm! The kids were SO good! They didn't complain at all!! It is always an adventure for the Story family!

Peris' Friend Party

Pool Party!
The challenge begins..just Peris on Rickey's shoulders

The party crew: Rickey, Logan, Peris, and Danielle

VICTORY!! The kids tried all evening to do a triple stack!!

Not quite....

A good 'ol fashion game of chicken

Due to our late vacation, Peris has her friend birthday party early this year. She invited 3 school friends to GE Pool for some swimming and pizza. The kids had a great time!!

Water fight

What started out as an "innocent" water fight with squirt guns quickly deteriorated into a full blown soaker! Cups, water bottles, and the actual water bucket were used to dowse each other. Who started it? Ummm...Gramma Choo Choo! What a blast!!!