We sent the summer out in style with a quick family getaway to Amelia Island on the northeastern corner of Florida. We’d never been to the southernmost barrier island and were excited to experience a new spot and finally hit up the beach that Hailey has been begging for all summer.

The Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort offered us a stay at their gorgeous property and we were eager to take them up on it. We arrived late afternoon on Thursday and after a tour of the 1,350 acres that the resort is nestled on, we went to drop our things off in the room.

Our room was on the highest floor, room 756, and I immediately fell in love with the beachy feel of the space.

Of course, once we saw our view, the girls were fixated on getting to the beach as quickly as their little legs could carry them.

So a quick change into suits, and off we went to explore!

The evening was a dream. Not another soul was on the beach and the girls tore through the sand and shallow waves with the utmost of glee.

David and I wandered behind them, feeling relaxed in just letting the run free.

Honestly at this point you could have told us the vacation was over and we would have been largely satisfied. It was that perfect of an evening.

We grabbed a quick dinner at the beach side restaurant at sat a few minutes at the over-sized fire pit before calling it a night. Being that we haven’t all slept in the same room since our Disney cruise, the girls were quite giddy at the concept and took their sweet time settling down until fatigue finally overtook them.

The next day, after an awesome breakfast at the Sunrise Restaurant, which included a free buffet for kids 5 and under, which may have been the highlight of Hailey’s stay (like mother, like daughter), we set out for the beach.

We left the camera behind and took on the giant rolling waves of the Atlantic. They were bigger than I remember seeing in a long time and once we all got out past the breaking point, the girls loved riding up and over the swells. Coming back in and being tossed around by the big waves? More open to interpretation.

Eventually the both begged for the pool and we obliged. The family pool at the Omni Amelia Island is 10,000 square feet, AKA, huge. I loved the wide steps that provided a great size playing ground for non-swimmers (Kaitlyn) and the girls loved the fountains that sprayed into the pool. They never wanted to leave.

We got so bold as to try and nap the girls poolside so we could take advantage of the “tequila experience” but don’t let this picture fool you:

They never fully gave in. I settled for a grilled snapper sandwich while we made them at least relax for 30 minutes.

In the late afternoon, we dragged the girls away from swimming to shower off and head over to explore the on-property putt putt.

…but first let me grab a beer.

We played the giant chess game (David beat me as always), wandered through the Nature Center (a cute little spot with some local wildlife for the kiddos to check out), then tried our hand at putt-putt. Hailey got a hole in one on the first hole which immediately gave me visions of college golf scholarships and Kaitlyn, well, she sure was cute as she climbed over every obstacle and hacked away at her golf ball.

We wandered over to the shops (still, all on property; it’s seriously huge) where we stumbled upon live music and a shrimp boil, which is basically mine and David’s love language.

The kids all ran around, spying on turtles and fish, while we relaxed, listened to some tunes and devoured our meal.

The night had such a vacationy feel, from the Jimmy Buffet tunes to the smiles on our sun-kissed kids.

Note to self: time to make that hair appointment you’ve been putting off.

We all fell asleep a little more easily that night and the next morning we watched the cloudy skies as we made our way to breakfast (the buffet again please!).

When it looked like the rain was going to hold off a bit, we immediately took off for the beach to get beat up again by the ocean. The water was much more choppy, so though we surfed a few, we also fit in a long walk and other fun, like volleyball and kite flying.

At one point, the kite almost carried Kaitlyn away, which is when we decided to head to the pool instead.

We swam until the rain came. Then we kept swimming through it. Who knew we had such little fish?! Finally the rain set in a bit more, so we headed back to the room for late afternoon baths. At this point we contemplated going out, but there is a pizza place that delivers to the room and that seemed to fit the overtired vibe we had going on.

We set the girls up with the complimentary cookies at some Netflix while David and I sat on the balcony, enjoying people watching in the rain.

Sunday morning we packed up and wandered through historic Fernandina Beach then headed back home.

This trip was the perfect send-off to summer. We got our toes in the sand and some sun on our cheeks and now I’m returning feeling invigorated about our new schedule and the fall season in general.

Thank you, Amelia Island, for such a sweet summer send-off!