Savannah, Georgia

For Jared's spring break (at least the beginning of it), we went to Savannah to meet up with our good friends Justin, Nancy and Hazel. They moved to Florida last summer, so Savannah was the midway point between our two houses.

It was a pretty long drive to Georgia, and we worried about how well the kids would do. So we found some good deals on Hotwire, and split the drive into 2 days. I'm so glad that we did! Micah can go about an hour before losing it. Then he cries. When he cries, Luke gets upset and screams. Literally screams. That scares Micah, and Micah cries more. Luckily the screaming and crying cycle didn't happen continually the whole 4-5 hours (Luke was a very good traveler most of the time, especially the hour or so that Micah was asleep), but it happened enough to convince us that we better split the drive up again on our way home.

Here are a few pictures from our hotel stops:

Micah wrestling with Dada

Luke and the blow dryer-- love the semi-wedgie

After a sort of lame continental breakfast we made it the rest of the way to Georgia. We actually stayed in Tybee Island about 30 minutes from downtown Savannah. We originally thought that we'd spend most of the time on the island. But it turns out that it was terrible timing for a beach vacation. It was pouring down rain when we arrived. Shortly after we got there a severe thunderstorm warning was issued-- with VERY LOUD SIRENS to announce the warning. Luke clamped his hands over his ears and had a meltdown because he was terrified and it hurt his ears. He curled up on the bed under a blanket and just shook. Even after the alarm had stopped he wouldn't come out. Jared thought he might be in shock or something. I was playing with Micah (who was completely unphased) but decided I'd document the moment.

He eventually got off the bed but wouldn't go outside to the porch to look at the rain, and he kept asking to go back to Luke's house. Poor little guy! Part of the reason he was so scared was because we told him the alarm was all done, and then it went off again 10-20 minutes later. So after that time, he didn't know if it would happen a third time or more. He didn't want to get off the bed just in case.

Justin and Nancy got there an hour or two after us. They said that while checking in they heard in the office that the severe thunderstorm warning had been lifted (Is that the right word?) and that it was just a rainstorm now. We finally convinced Luke that the alarm would NOT go off again, and he came out to play.

So the first night we stayed inside, played some games, and ate microwave pizza hot pockets since we couldn't make a fire.

The next day we drove to Savannah for church and then went to the downtown area to walk around and play. Jared was listening to "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" on the way down. That book takes place in Savannah, and it talks about several historic houses, so he plugged one into the GPS and it took us to the prettiest place I'd ever seen.

This is the park just a few blocks from the Mercer-Williams house where we had parked and picnicked. We played here for a few hours on Sunday and then again on Monday. We were all in love with it!

Honestly these pictures just don't do it justice! The trees, the grass, the houses around...it was all completely incredible!

This is the walled fragrant garden. On Sunday it was closed, but when we went back on Monday we got to go inside and sit for awhile. There were 2 woman gardeners there who were very kind to Luke and showed him a snail they found and let him throw some leaves in the fountain.

This is the Mercer-Williams house that I mentioned. Jared and I loved the architecture. Luke loved the air conditioner. Micah loved the grass.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the city and the buildings. When we went back on Monday I forgot to bring the camera, so this is all that we ended up with. But there were so many beautiful walkways and buildings. It reminded me of old-timey London that you see in the BBC movies.

After getting back to the campground on the island later that afternoon, we tried to go down to see the beach but the wind was so bad that the sand just shot into our eyes, so we didn't make it to the beach. Like I said, bad timing for beach camping. But there was a short trail we got to hike around. And Nancy and I got short naps. So it turned out to be a great day anyway.

That evening the weather was still windy, but we braved the wind and built a fire anyway. We roasted hot dogs for dinner, and after the kiddos were asleep we made s'mores,

warmed our hands,

toasted our tushies,

and had great conversation.

On Monday we went back to Savannah to play in the park and check out some more of the houses. We had a beautiful walk, rested in the garden, climbed on the playground, tried to find Paula Deen's restaurant (we did, but the wait was too long), and then had to say good-bye. It was a short trip, but it was a good one.

Justin and Nancy are game for making this a yearly tradition, so the plan is for them to come visit us in Amarillo next year. We are so excited for that! We miss those guys!

Justin is doing a clerkship in Ft. Lauderdale, so among the many conversations that we had, we had a few about what to expect for our clerkship. We were happy to find out that their student loan payment is less than we had thought, which gives us hope that we can afford to rent a house after all. I am very happy about that! Justin reported that he loves his job, loves the judge, and wouldn't want his life (for now) any other way. All good things to hear!