A Family Vacation at Amelia Island, FL

We took our very first family vacation and went on holiday to Amelia Island, FL. It was so beautiful there and we had a fantastic time with the kids. This is the front entrance of the hotel where we stayed. There are 8 flags because this was the only place in the US that was under the rule of 8 different countries. I love the curve of these trees.



This is the view from our room on the 5th floor. It was so beautiful, but don't let that bright blue sky fool you. It was freezing cold. Literally! When you travel with kids, you end up taking everything but the kitchen sink. By the time I was done packing for them, there was no room for Esteban and I. Oh well. Atleast the kids were warm, but we didn't suffer too badly.

This was the view from our balcony. I loved it! It was stunning.

Here is the sunset from our front door.

And here is the sunrise from our balcony. I could wake up to this view everyday!

On day one, it was very cold so we stayed close to the hotel. We did leave for lunch and then we took the kids to the park, but it was so cold, we only lasted about 30 minutes. In the evening, we went to Historic Fernandina Beach for dinner.

On day two, we went to Fort Clinch State Park. This fort was built in 1847 and was never completed. It was too bad that we missed the reenactments, but there was one soldier there and he was definately in character, telling us all about his duties and life in the fort. It was an awesome place and we loved that Jayden could play freely without getting into too much trouble. I love this snapshot of Esteban and the kids.

Now this day was much warmer than the day before. I believe it was 52 degrees, 10 degrees warmer than the day before but with the winds off of the beach it sure didn't feel like it. Luckily, there were tons of trees surrounding the playground and it felt really nice without the wind. This was Maya's first time in a real swing and you could tell that it took her breathe away, but once she got used to it, she was laughing and carrying on as much as Jayden did.

I think Maya looked like a little Eskimo in her winter gear. You can see from the background what a beautiful place this park was. We loved our visit there.

Here's an attempt at a family shot. Jayden and Maya are looking at each other, but I guess that's pretty typical of our everyday life. Those two are always engaging each other's interests.

I love this picture too. Jayden was crying his head off up until about 15 seconds before this shot because he didn't want to leave the swing. Poor boy!

On day three, it was much warmer so we went to the zoo. We had a lot of fun. Jayden seemed really interested in the animals whose names he knew. He loved the birds, fish, and monkeys.

Of course, I tried to get him to pose for a picture with Mommy, but that was clearly too much to ask. He's such a party pooper!

On day four, we went to Kingsley Plantation. It's the oldest plantation home still standing in Florida. The crops were cotton, indigo and sugar cane. There are 25 of the original 32 slave cabins on the property. About 100 people lived and worked here and about 60 of them did so in the slave cabins. Here's Jayden and daddy facing the Fort George River.

Here's smiling Maya, taking in the view.

Here we are laying around one of the many large oak trees on the property.

Afterwards, we went to the Jacksonville Landing and took in the views of the St. John's River. We walked around for a little bit and headed to St. Augustine where we ended our trip at my cousin's house. I can't wait for us to do this again!