The Ritz:)

My friend Barbara found a fabulous deal for military families at the Ritz on Amelia Island.  It was only for one night, but a perfect chance for a get away that was less than hour from our house.  The kids always have a blast together and Barbara is one of the easiest people to be with, so our mini vacation was a success!  We decided to take the boys out of school a little early to get up there in time to have some quality play time.  That in itself was an adventure for the kids.  We piled the kids into one car and drove up, dropping Madison off for the night to be boarded...in hindsight, a mistake, but she made it through in one piece after a nasty virus.  The kids took the fancy hotel by storm as they ran around and literally squealed and laughed causing a bit of a ruckus.  Once we had our fancy rooms, the rest of the vacation was full of beach, pool, sun, and fun:)  The dads joined us later after work.

The view from our room....how fabulous is this?  And so close to home!

 Dinner...somehow Barbara got stuck at the kids table...sorry about that one!

 After dinner, these two ladies got up on 'stage'  (the windowsill next to our table) and did lots of dances and silly faces.

 It was a FULL moon this night, so we headed to the beach for a little walk.  Someone fell in the water, and another somehow ended up with the entire beach in her hair...This picture makes me laugh because Jack had lost his little shoe and I saw how it happened when I downloaded this pic.  

 Random picture...but Madison decided one day that she doesn't like to eat out of her bowl anymore.  SO, I dump it on the floor.  Crazy dog.

We picked her up from the boarder the next afternoon and took her with us on our little exploration of downtown.  She even came with us to eat lunch.  I think she was relieved to be out of that other place!

I wanted everyone to pose in front of the pirate...Jack was a good sport and jumped right in there. 

 And then the two ladies decided to join him:)

 A mermaid?  Really?  yep, she was really playing up the part.

 We actually had a kids table....that's a first for us and it was a success!

 Checking out the boats...

 Creatively getting the kids to follow her...she's so good at that....

After this, everyone was hot and tired so we headed home.  Can't wait to do it again!