As soon as Braylei was done with her party on the last day of school, we rushed home to pick up Jeremy and the other kids so we could get on our way to Savannah, Georgia. We already had the car packed so we were pretty excited to be on the road by early afternoon, expecting to reach our destination well before nightfall. Just when we were about 90 miles outside of Savannah we blew a tire, though. Thank goodness Jeremy was driving and did a fabulous job keeping his cool and getting to the side of the road safely. The tire had holes on two sides and ended up ripping part of our paneling off, which was not the best scenario, but definitely could have been worse. It took a little while to retrieve the spare from underneath the van and get it changed, but Jeremy again did a wonderful job and the kids were good sports too!
By the time we were able to get to our hotel and settled in, Brixlyn was tired and ready for bed. I decided to stay with her while the others met up with some of Jeremy's aunts, uncles, and cousins at The Pirate's House for dinner. Tayscen and Braylei were so excited to see some "real" pirates and had a great time exploring where pirates live. They each came back with pirate hats, earrings, mustaches, and LOTS of stories about spooky windows and parrots that could talk.
On Thursday, we decided it would be a good day to visit the beach on Tybee Island. This was the highlight of the trip for our kids and we ended up staying there for about 5 hours. The beach was so clean, the sand so white, and the water so warm; it was all so delightful! Brixlyn was so excited, it was her first time at the beach, that as we walked out to the sand she couldn't help but stop every couple of feet and sit down and play in it. I think she actually ended up liking the beach the most out of everyone!
We got to the beach around 10:00 am and the tide hadn't quite come up very far, so there were lots of little tide pools for the kids to play in. It made it really nice to keep an eye on them and allowed them to play in the shallow water without much worry. Braylei and Tayscen loved going out into the waves with Jeremy and Brixlyn was quite content with her bucket and shovel in the sand. The kids made friends with some other children, who they enjoyed playing in the water with and after a while we all built sand castles together. Tayscen's favorite thing about the beach was "surfing" on his belly, Brixlyn's was playing in the sand, and Braylei's was collecting shells along the shore, which she spent about an hour doing! 
We ended our beach adventure with ice cream on the pier and then headed back to our hotel where the kids went swimming some more (because they couldn't swim in the salt water according to Braylei), after which we headed to Jeremy's Uncle Mike's house for dinner with some more family and friends. The kids had a great time swinging in the hammocks on Uncle Mike's back porch! They were all tuckered out and ready for bed by about 8:00 pm, though, after having a jam packed couple of days so we headed back to the hotel, where Jeremy and I ate dinner by bathroom light while the kids hit the hay:)
On Friday, the kids decided they wanted to go to Oatland Island Wildlife Center. It was once a cotton plantation that had been turned into an outdoor wildlife park, complete with trails and animal habitats. The weather wasn't too warm, just a little humid, but most of the trails were shaded. It was a lot of walking, but the kids overall had a great time looking at the animals and exploring the marshes. We were able to see alligators, cougars, bobcats, armadillos, wolves, red foxes, and bison. There was also a small farm we were able to visit, which happened to be the kids favorite part, where we saw ducks, hens, roosters, cows, pigs, turkeys, sheep, goats, and donkeys.
On Saturday morning we decided to try and squeeze in a few activities before we had to get ready for the wedding that evening. Tayscen really wanted to go on a dolfin tour, so that is what we did! We boarded a pontoon boat and away we went. We primarily stayed in one of the channels that leads to the Atlantic Ocean and at first we weren't sure how promising the tour was going to be. To our surprise, it was quite an adventure and well worth the time! We saw so many dolfins, it was hard to keep track of them all. They were very friendly and were constantly swimming up to our boat. We were able to watch them fish/feed near the shore, play with one another, and communicate. It was an amazing experience! We also got to see all the clams along the shore and part of Fort Pulaski. The kids all had a great time and Braylei kept saying she "didn't know it could be this fun!" Brixlyn loved watching the dolfins jump out of the water and Tayscen was an expert at spotting them before anyone else!
After the dolfin tour, we grabbed some smoothies for lunch and headed back to our hotel. The older kids went swimming for a little bit while Brix took a nap, and then we all showered and got ready for the wedding. Braylei and Tayscen were both so excited for their important jobs and looked amazing, if I do say so myself! They both did such a good job walking down the isle and standing so patiently at the front during the wedding. Jeremy and I both got several comments on how adorable and well behaved they were; we were so proud! People not even related to us even asked to have their picture taken with them!
Braylei kept commenting on how beautiful Claire looked in her wedding dress and loved taking pictures with the wedding party after it was over. Tayscen enjoyed playing on the steps outside the church and Brix liked blowing the bubbles while the happy couple walked out and boarded a white carriage.
We headed over to the Mulberry Inn for the dinner and reception once we were done with pictures. It was a beautiful venue, and the kids had a great time chatting with Uncle Jim, Aunt Nada, and Aunt Janet in the courtyard. They enjoyed the appetizers and orange juice while we chatted with family and watched the happy couple dance. Of course, it wasn't too long before our kids decided it was their turn to dance and they each had a ball dancing with each other and especially their dad to the music! It was such a special experience to watch Jeremy twirl the kids around and around as their cute little faces lit up like it was Christmas morning. We all had such a great time and feel so blessed to have been able to participate in Claire and Tom's special day!
Your kiddos looked adorable. Glad you were able to salvage the trip post-blow out.
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