After spending a long winter indoors, we’re relieved to be doing some traveling again and spending more time outdoors. Our adventure to Jekyll Island last fall helped to tide us over—pun intended—especially since we displayed memories from our travel inside our home.

 
I love designing rooms that are comfortable enough for little ones, but stylish enough for the entire family to enjoy—our family library is one of these spaces. Introducing the Ward Family Academy.

  
 As a homeschooling family, this is where the older kids spend most of their weekday. This hardworking space reveals a lot about who we are as a family—including places we’ve been. You can see their experiences reflected in the artwork. They are super proud of their work. Quite frankly, I am too.

During our visit to Jekyll Island, Evan became interested in owls. Each night during our visit we sat on the screened porch listening to a couple of owls “who” us a sweet lullaby. It’s funny how memories like that stick with kids. Months later he painted this picture during an art class. 

  
Here’s where Ava painted a horse galloping along the beach, a beach with pink sand no less. My sweet girl loved watching the graceful creatures, but couldn’t get up the nerve to ride. The guided tour would’ve taken her along the saltwater marshes, preserved forests, and ended at Driftwood Beach. There’s always next time.

  
We also have a few photos from our trip featured on the bookcase 

  
Ava catching her first fish.

  

The city kids enjoying the beach 

  
…And finally a picture of Meredith, the cutest little turtle from the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.

  
With an environment so breathtakingly gorgeous, it’s natural to want to bring home a piece of driftwood or a small animal. However, to help keep nature beautiful we learned that we should refrain from removing items from their natural habitat.

Here are a few examples:

•  Any animal that is alive, including: sand dollars, hermit crabs, insects, snakes, turtles, lizards, alligators, squirrels, raccoons, birds, etc.
• Historical artifacts of any kind. (Metal-detecting is not permitted on Jekyll Island)
• Driftwood

It is okay to take:

• Shells that no longer contain a live animal
• Items that have washed up on shore (e.g. marine debris, lumber, etc.) as long as they are modern items, not historical artifacts
• Small pieces of plant material that have naturally fallen or otherwise separated from the plant they derived from.

Note: It is not permitted to cut or remove any plant material (e.g., tress, limbs, roots, etc.) whether dead or alive.

So here’s to many more adventures this spring and summer whether you’re traveling to Jekyll Island, a family reunion, or visiting Grandma’s house. Finding creative ways to incorporate your experiences into your home’s décor helps the memories last longer than the trip.

::This post sponsored by the Jekyll Island Authority (JIA), friends of Blulabelbungalow.com and Erika Ward. I pray that you continue to make sweet memories with the ones you love. Find ways to memorialize them for all to enjoy. 

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Erika