Alright, Joel is on a fishing trip with some high school buddies for a few days, so it's time for a little catch-up on the blog! Two weeks ago Joel and I left for a romantic vacation for a week. We said goodbye to Caleb as he stayed with each of the grandparents for half the week. It was sure hard to leave him, but it was wonderful to reconnect with each other. We had never been on a road trip before, so we decided to try it out! We got some good recommendations from a couple of friends about Savannah, Georgia, so after some research, we decided to make that our destination. We left early Monday morning and drove about 15 hours to Nashville. We spent the night there and found out the next morning that the CMA awards were that day! Good thing we were heading out of town before all the craziness began! Tuesday we drove the rest of the way to Savannah - about 8 or 9 hours. We actually stayed on Tybee Island, abouta 15 minute drive from Savannah. We rented a condo at a Beach & Racket Club on the island. It was wonderful - a cute little apartment right on a private beach!
We arrived on Tybee Island in the early evening, so we had time to explore a little and have supper at a local pizza shop. It's a fun island - lots of cute shops, a wonderful pier and public beach, and quaint homes. We didn't go all the way out on the long pier that night because a storm was blowing in.
Wednesday morning we toured Fort Pulaski. I'm really terrible at remembering details about history, but it was fascinating learning about it anyway. Ask Joel if you're interested in more information!
This guy demonstrated the weapons of that time period.
The rest of the day we spent the day touring Savannah. It is such a beautiful city! The historical district of Savannah has many laws protecting the appearance of the buildings. Any buildings that are restored have to be restored to their original state. Any new buildings have to look like they've always been there. We took a carriage ride tour of the city and learned lots! It was so much fun.
Aren't these homes beautiful?!
We found a fun local place to eat lunch. That night we ate at Paula Deen's restaurant - Our Lady and Sons. It was quite spendy, but a very fun experience. Actually, I'm going to elaborate on the predicament we got into. We received a menu earlier in the afternoon when we made reservations, so we looked it over and decided what we probably would order. When we actually sat down, the waitress told us about their specials. The specials sounded wonderful, so we decided to order them. We figured they couldn't be any more expensive than the most expensive thing on the menu, right? Because a special is supposed to be discounted or something, right? Wrong. Each of our specials was $10 more than the most expensive thing on the menu! And we didn't find out until we got the bill. Ouch. But, we are celebrating our anniversary right? So anyway, we've now learned to ask what the price is on the specials. I was brave enough to order seafood entree which included salmon and scallops. I didn't mind the taste, but I just couldn't get past the texture of the scallops!
Thursday we slept in (definitely not as easy as it used to be! I think we only made it to about 10am!) and had a lazy day. We spent some time on the beach and at the pool - it was VERY hot and humid. We were able to spot some dolphins right from our beach! After some late afternoon hours in the AC in the condo, we went for a walk along the beach on the north side of the island (the quiet side). Joel was checking out the crab holes to see if he could spot one, and indeed he did! He was able to coax this one out of the hole so we could get a good view. It's pretty incredible seeing this picture, but at the moment, I was not so excited about an angry crab being just a few feet away!
Happy 4th Anniversary sweetie!
For supper we went to the famous Crab Shack on Tybee Island. It was a very fun experience. It was all outdoor dining in a very casual style. There were garbages underneath the tables with a hole over it for easy disposal of all the seafood waste! There were live alligators and exotic birds. There were also cats wandering everywhere. Georgia seems to have a very large population of cats. The Crab Shack feeds the cats, so they roam around the restaurant. They looked clean and healthy and didn't beg for food, but it still seemed weird to eat with a cat a few feet away at a restaurant. Joel ordered the seafood sampler and was brave enough to eat all of those things! I ordered ribs.
Friday we went on a dolphin tour! It was so fun - we saw tons of dolphins! It was difficult to get good pictures, but we did get a decent video. I'll try to post that soon.
The rest of the day we spent exploring Savannah by car. Joel decided he wanted to go across a cool bridge, and ended up bringing us to South Carolina! We had our last meal at a fun italian place in the City Market. We had a long day of driving again on Saturday, bringing us to Bloomington, Illinois. Then we finally got to see Caleb again on Sunday at about 4pm. We missed that precious face a whole lot!
PS: We have many more pictures, but I'm not patient enough to load them all onto blogger, so if your interested, please visit the facebook album!
Caleb just loves our kitty! Poor Dori puts up with a lot!
Before we left for vacation, Joel redid the landscaping around our deck. It was quite a bit of work, but it looks nice now!
Joel also dug away a portion of our yard in order to make it flatter and more even. Caleb saw this as a perfect opportunity for playing!
We got Caleb in the pool during that spell of hot weather. He liked the slide!
Here is the finished product of the landscaping around the deck - I can't wait to see those plants in full bloom (maybe next year). We still have to replace the boards going from the deck to the ground, and plant grass seed where Joel removed that hill! It's coming!
We got to attend the wedding of a close high school friend of mine last Saturday. It was really fun to spend some time with my friend Heidi and her husband Jake at the wedding and reception. They are expecting their first baby!
Caleb was quite the trooper through all the sitting!
The four of us were all best friends in elementary school! 
Caleb has started to snuggle with his teddy! Only I'm pretty sure he's snuggling with the butt.
Caleb's been trying to play t-ball! It's so cute - he loves it!
This is our second year of learning how to garden. We learned a lot from last year, so we're doing better, but I'm sure we'll keep learning for quite a few years. This year we planted tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, peas, and rhubarb. I definitely planted the peas too close together, but I really like peas, and I only had a small space! Question: does anyone know if we're supposed to trim the stems of the onions after they start tipping over? Ours look like a forest after a tornado went through!
We arrived on Tybee Island in the early evening, so we had time to explore a little and have supper at a local pizza shop. It's a fun island - lots of cute shops, a wonderful pier and public beach, and quaint homes. We didn't go all the way out on the long pier that night because a storm was blowing in.
This guy demonstrated the weapons of that time period.
Aren't these homes beautiful?!
We found a fun local place to eat lunch. That night we ate at Paula Deen's restaurant - Our Lady and Sons. It was quite spendy, but a very fun experience. Actually, I'm going to elaborate on the predicament we got into. We received a menu earlier in the afternoon when we made reservations, so we looked it over and decided what we probably would order. When we actually sat down, the waitress told us about their specials. The specials sounded wonderful, so we decided to order them. We figured they couldn't be any more expensive than the most expensive thing on the menu, right? Because a special is supposed to be discounted or something, right? Wrong. Each of our specials was $10 more than the most expensive thing on the menu! And we didn't find out until we got the bill. Ouch. But, we are celebrating our anniversary right? So anyway, we've now learned to ask what the price is on the specials. I was brave enough to order seafood entree which included salmon and scallops. I didn't mind the taste, but I just couldn't get past the texture of the scallops!
Thursday we slept in (definitely not as easy as it used to be! I think we only made it to about 10am!) and had a lazy day. We spent some time on the beach and at the pool - it was VERY hot and humid. We were able to spot some dolphins right from our beach! After some late afternoon hours in the AC in the condo, we went for a walk along the beach on the north side of the island (the quiet side). Joel was checking out the crab holes to see if he could spot one, and indeed he did! He was able to coax this one out of the hole so we could get a good view. It's pretty incredible seeing this picture, but at the moment, I was not so excited about an angry crab being just a few feet away!
Happy 4th Anniversary sweetie!
For supper we went to the famous Crab Shack on Tybee Island. It was a very fun experience. It was all outdoor dining in a very casual style. There were garbages underneath the tables with a hole over it for easy disposal of all the seafood waste! There were live alligators and exotic birds. There were also cats wandering everywhere. Georgia seems to have a very large population of cats. The Crab Shack feeds the cats, so they roam around the restaurant. They looked clean and healthy and didn't beg for food, but it still seemed weird to eat with a cat a few feet away at a restaurant. Joel ordered the seafood sampler and was brave enough to eat all of those things! I ordered ribs.
Friday we went on a dolphin tour! It was so fun - we saw tons of dolphins! It was difficult to get good pictures, but we did get a decent video. I'll try to post that soon.
The rest of the day we spent exploring Savannah by car. Joel decided he wanted to go across a cool bridge, and ended up bringing us to South Carolina! We had our last meal at a fun italian place in the City Market. We had a long day of driving again on Saturday, bringing us to Bloomington, Illinois. Then we finally got to see Caleb again on Sunday at about 4pm. We missed that precious face a whole lot!
