Our Last Summer Hurrah-SSI

 We just returned from our annual St. Simons Island vacation right before the start of school on Monday. Since Gram and Grumps recently took a European riverboat cruise, and we have our mother/daughter Paris trip in September, Gram offered to let Jay take her place at the beach this year.

There were some mixed up wires about the actual date of the SSI trip, and I accidentally double-booked the beach trip on the same week as Maggie's gymnastics camp, Tuttle's beach week with Cade, and Jay's marathon week preparing for Amazon Prime Day. Gram worked her magic and was able to reschedule at the same condo for two weeks later. We were so relieved because the kids look forward to this getaway every year!

It was a shortened version of the trip, but we actually preferred the schedule and plan to consolidate our future SSI vacations to four full days. We covered all our favorite activities and most of our must-do restaurants. Everyone was tanned, full, and exhausted by the end!

Some of the highlights of the trip included staying at a new condo that was right on the beach. It allowed us to decide on a whim to go swimming instead of having to pack up and drive to a public parking area. 

The water park never disappoints. I set up in a shaded area with pool chairs and read almost an entire book while the kids (and Jay!) tackled the lazy river, water slides, buying all the snacks, and wave pool. Any time the kids needed a break, they met up with me to relax before sprinting off again.

Our mini golf competition is always fierce. We only took one family photo the entire trip. It may appear that we are one happy family, but the rivalry is real. Tuttle pulled forward with an unexpected performance early on, but Jay ended up winning the round by only three strokes.

Jacob impressed everyone with the only hole-in-one of the day!

Food is clearly a big focus on vacation, and St. Simons Island offers it all. Jay requested dinner at The Crab Trap, and we loaded the table with oysters, crab legs, shrimp, fish, and all the sides. We had to rolled out of the restaurant!

It would not be a beach trip without a visit to Moo Cow with our own Moo.

My favorite meal was a date with Tuttle for breakfast one morning. I love that he still requests this special outing every year, and I hope it never ends!

We loved creating all these memories with our last few days of summer.

A HUGE thank you to Gram for planning (and replanning!) the perfect beach vacation for our family. You were missed this year, but we appreciated that you offered Jay this annual trip!

Goodbye, St. Simons! We will see you again next year!

Six Girls, Six Flags

 We celebrated a big birthday for our favorite girl this past weekend prior to our upcoming beach trip on her actual birthday. How is Maggie already turning TEN?

Maggie picked five of her gymnastics girlfriends to spend the day at Six Flags. I think girls that willingly throw their bodies off 4 inch wide beams are eager to ride the biggest roller coasters at the park! :)

The lines were short, and the weather was not too hot to spend almost eight hours riding all the things.

I am not a fan of roller coasters at all, but I was convinced to go on the Goliath when one of Maggie's friends begged me to hold her hand. I think I was squeezing her hand harder than she was squeezing mine!

The girls finished the day with water rides and a quick visit to the mini water park. After a final ride on the Superman roller coaster, we dragged the group out of Six Flags to go home.

Maggie is really such an amazing child. She is more responsible than any member of the family, including her parents. Her drive and determination to achieve her goals impresses us everyday. She happily works out at the gym 16 hours a week and always has a new skill she is trying to perfect. Maggie is a thoughtful friend, and gift giving is her love language. She loves her brothers fiercely. She currently wants to become a pediatrician, and we have no doubt that she could be successful. Here is to TEN YEARS, a full decade!

As an added birthday bonus, Ms. Pitkins, Maggie's 4th grade teacher, came to swim yesterday with a few favorite classmates. Not only did Ms. Pitkins make lifelong memories for all her students in the classroom, but she makes the effort to show even more love by spending some of her summer vacation with us!

Everyday with Maggie is special and fun. Happiest 10th birthday to our Moo girl!

Best. Week. Ever.

 The Thorne kids were living their best lives this past week. Maggie and Tuttle had been anticipating these summer plans for months, and neither trip disappointed.

Tuttle was invited to tag along with his best friend Cade and his family to Destin for a week at the beach along with another buddy Connor.  They rented an amazing beach house right by the water and spent their time skimboarding, playing sand football, visiting the boardwalk, and soaking up the sun. I loved receiving daily photos of our boy creating lifelong memories with his buddies.

Maggie and I made the drive to Tennessee for Flip Fest with several of her teammates. She is not new to sleepaway camp, but she was especially excited about focusing on advanced skills everyday with new coaches. Even though the kids had the opportunity for more free time during the day, Maggie told me she never missed an open gym time and called me several times to let me know about any new accomplishment. I stalked the Facebook page for photos, but I only spotted her a few times. She loved Flip Fest and is already talking about next year!

Grandmommy and Grandaddy came to the rescue for Jacob since both of his siblings were off on adventures. He went home with them after a visit at our house over the weekend. He visited Granny's house and went on a shopping spree at Target for new Legos. I know he appreciated being the center of attention for a few days while Jay and I worked. (Jay had crazy hours to prepare for Amazon Prime Day!)

All the kids were back under the same roof on Friday, and I was able to surprise Maggie with a bathroom makeover that Gram and I completed while she was at camp. She was speechless and is obsessed with all the changes!

Summer has flown by, and we are trying to slow down the remaining weeks.

Firecracker 4th

We spent an amazing 4th of July weekend doing all the things we LOVE.

On Sunday we started our celebration at our neighborhood pool with friends and too much food.

Independence Day began bright and early for our favorite tradition: The Peachtree Road Race! This year was extra special because Maggie requested to join in the run with Daddy!

Jacob and I arrived at our annual cheering spot to wait for our racers.

It was HOT morning, but Maggie and Jay finished the race with smiles.

We missed Tuttle while he was at the lake with his buddies, but he made sure I could snap my yearly patriotic photo of him at the race even if it was over Facetime! :)

After several years of hiatus we reunited with the Poole family for brunch after the race. Time passes so quickly that I did not even realize it had been that long, but it is always easy to pick up where we left off with this fav family!

After a three hour nap for Jacob and me, we made some last minute plans to join neighbors for fireworks at their house. Jacob was VERY into the sparklers, pop-its, and novelty firework finds. Maggie spent most of her time getting baby snuggles.

Our weekend was one for the books, but Tuttle also came home today with lots of stories about his time at the lake. I cannot believe we are already at the place when our kids spend holidays away from us, but he was surrounded by some of the sweetest kids (and EXTREMELY patient parents!).

Happy 4th of July from our red, white, and blue crew!