Jekyll Island 2015

Oh, friends, it has been quite a summer so far, and it has gone waaaaaay too fast! I feel like we’ve been away more than we’ve been home, and when we’ve been home, we’ve been in major kitchen reno mode— eeeek! I’m planning on getting back to business and starting in on allllllll of the kitchen posts on Monday, but in an attempt to hang on to one final shred of summer vacation, today I’m talking about the beach!

A few weeks ago, Donnie, the Cs, and I packed up the minivan and headed down to Jekyll Island, Georgia. If you’ve never heard of Jekyll Island (I hadn’t!), it is in southern Georgia and is part of a grouping of islands known as the Golden Isles.

So why this destination? Well, Donnie is really into hotel points, so every year when it comes time to plan a vacation, we make a list of all of the different locations he has points for, and cross them off one by one until we narrow it down to the winner! 🙂 We liked this choice because it looked gorgeous, didn’t seem like it would be overcrowded, and had a brand new Westin that we thought would be fun to try out. So we did!

{The Westin Jekyll Island}

We could not have asked for a more beautiful or convenient location, with an amazing pool just steps from our room…

…and an incredible beach right there too– this was the view from our room’s deck! I couldn’t believe it!

Oh and the turtles– they love them there! 🙂 There is a sea turtle center on the island and little (and big!) homages to the turtles everywhere!

Another perk of the island was that it was small enough that we could use bikes to get around. Connor has been really into biking this summer, so he LOVED this aspect of the trip.

Con and Donnie brought their own bikes, and Caleb and I were able to rent a bike + trailer combo to join in the fun… although by the time we took this picture, Caleb had pretty much had it. He’s not sleeping. He’s just refusing to have his picture taken… little stinker! 🙂

Con especially liked riding over these cool boardwalks that were part of the bike paths and had fantastic views of the water.

I would have to say that my favorite part was seeing all of the *stunning* southern homes in the island’s historic district. They were all so beautiful that I couldn’t even pick a favorite!

I would never have thought to paint my house turquoise and yellow, but it SO works for this place!

And a fountain leading up to the house instead of a sidewalk?! Yes, please!

This home had the loveliest courtyard… I just wanted to hang out all day…

And then there were picturesque spots like this around every turn– love!

My little Caleb may not have been so into the historic homes or the biking, but he was *very* into strapping his bike helmet to his back and pretending he was a ninja turtle. This may have been his favorite part of the trip. 🙂

I can’t even handle the cuteness!!

One of our other favorite spots on the island was called Driftwood Beach, for obvious reasons… so cool!

We happened to be there at the “golden hour,” so I was able to get some great shots of the boys too– win-win!

And speaking of shots of the boys, what kind of mother would I be if I didn’t force my family  to wake up early on our final day and march them down to the beach for a photo shoot? 😀 Thankfully they’re used to my shenanigans by now and indulged me, even if it was just for a few minutes.

I keep telling them that they’ll be thankful they have photos like these to show their kids someday!

{Proof that I was actually there. I much prefer to be behind the camera! 🙂 }

A sweet lady walking down the beach offered to take our family photo for us… Con looks about spent and Caleb isn’t looking at the camera, but was the best we could do! 🙂

I love, love, love this one! Caleb was having a ball with his daddy!

And finally… my boys. I think I could go just about anywhere with these three and have the best week ever. They are just darling, and I feel so blessed to call them mine!! <3

Thanks for bearing with me and letting me get a little sappy and personal today! I promise I will be back on Monday with DIY projects galore– yay kitchen reno!!

{If you’re interested in checking out some of the other places our points travels have taken us, you can read about last year’s trip to Puerto Rico here…

…and our 2013 trip to Blue Mountains, Ontario here!}

Thanks for following along! Have a wonderful weekend, friends!