Collum Family Vacation 2015

We waited all summer and finally it was time for our vacation!  We were so excited, however I was dreading the 8+ hours in the car and all five of us in a hotel room for 3 days.  Jason got us a great deal again at the Double Tree Hotel in Atlantic Beach so we headed there on Wednesday.  It only took us about 11 hours to make it there, but by the time we were there we were in for the night!  On the way in we were greeted with a double rainbow.  Jason, Raleigh, and Garner enjoyed a little pool time before bed.  On Thursday morning, Jason headed down to the beach with all of our things...the tent, cart, toys, and chairs.  He got everything set up while Raleigh and Garner played.  Blakely and I were about to go down when I looked out and it was raining so we decided to wait.  Jason took Raleigh and Garner up to the indoor pool while we waited for the storm to pass.  Well, it never passed!  Jason ended up getting a tornado warning on his phone and I wanted to know if we needed to come downstairs instead of staying on the sixth floor.  We didn't go down, but the lightning was very intense, the parking lot had an area that started flooding, fire trucks were going by, the rain was blowing sideways, and our tent took a trip into the ocean.  It finally settled down long enough for Jason to go get our things and find the tent being pulled out of the ocean by some guys at the pier.  The "scattered" shower turned into an all day rain so we ended up going to the movies and then got to swim in the indoor pool later that night.  What a great way to begin vacation!

Friday ended up being a perfect day!  We spent the morning at the beach and Jason stayed with Raleigh and Garner at the pool after lunch while I stayed with Blakely in the room to nap.  We ended the day with a round of putt-putt and ice cream!  Garner loved playing putt-putt and did not want to leave!  Raleigh and Garner wanted to sleep together in the hotel and surprisingly they did a great job!  They only woke up one morning at 4 am wanting to play!

Jason does a fantastic job putting on sunscreen!

 whiffle ball at the beach

Saturday morning we had to check out of the hotel before going to the condo.  To save money we decided to go check out Fort Macon instead of the aquarium.  Raleigh was a little sad we weren't going to the aquarium this year, but that just means more time at the beach and pool!

The rest of the week was absolutely beautiful!!!  The sun shone every day and we were able to relax on the beach, play in the pool (which was a little more crowded this year since people were staying away from the sharks in the ocean), cook out a couple of times, and enjoy putt-putt again.

Raleigh really learned to swim this year and conquered her fear of the 5 foot water.  She became more confident every day that she did it and we were so proud!  Garner loved the pool the most, but by the end of the week he liked the beach again.  He enjoyed sitting in the waves with daddy and digging.  Blakely loved her first beach trip!  She didn't mind the sand too much and once she got use to the water she didn't mind the waves.  She tried to eat some sand and played in her little pool.  The big pool was a lot of fun too!  She splashed and kicked a lot, but was not a fan of going under.

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect week!!