Carolina Vacation Part 2

The week was perfect weather wise. We had one morning of rain but it cleared by lunch so that we could still have some time on the beach. The girls loved the beach, which I was very thankful for. I have met babies who refuse to touch sand or who are terrified as water, which can be normal, but I just didn't want to deal with that! Getting them ready and down to the beach was a production, and then of course Molly kept getting sand in her eyes and would freak out. They mostly just played in the sand or in the baby pool under the cabana tent. Brooke went into the water with my cousins a few times but we never ventured that far with Molly.

I'm a kid at heart...

Our house was awesome, as usual. We had a pool so we would come back from the beach in the afternoon and soak in the pool for a little. Brooke did really well swimming around in her puddle jumper, but Molly wasn't the biggest fan of the pool. Each family took a night to cook [we did a taco night on our night!] so we didn't eat out or anything. We did go miniature golfing one night and we took Brooke with us. She stayed up a couple hours past her bedtime every night like a champ.

Girl was a natural.

Then it came time to leave and we managed to make it home in seventeen hours this time. :: sigh ::

We'll see you again soon North Carolina. Til 2013...

Carolina Vacation Part 1

I am officially back from my mental/blogging break. Between vacation [which is never vacation with kids], photography, and starting a new job... my mind is fried.

SO several weeks later I am ready to write about vacation. I say the CarolinaS because we started in Myrtle Beach and then moved north from there. Dustin had to work most of the day Thursday so I spent the day juggling the girls and packing the car. Amazingly I was able to get almost everything into the van before he got home, which meant we were able to leave shortly after. It's a good thing I saved us some time because the drive took 18 hours. 18 HOURS. The girls were unhappy for the part where they were awake so we had to stop a few times. Then they were crying off and on all night, which shouldn't have affected our time, but I'll blame that. Then when I was driving, around 5 in the morning, we got stuck in stand still traffic. It was rumored that the road wouldn't be open for another six hours so we turned around on the high way and a cop escorted us off. How many times will that happen again?

We finally got to Myrtle beach to Amy's house at about 11 in the morning. It was so nice to see her again! We all ate lunch together and then Amy and I took the girls shopping while the guys went home to relax. On Saturday Amy and I were able to have a girls lunch with just the two of us which was AWESOME.

Then Saturday afternoon we headed up to Emerald Isle, North Carolina to start our vacation.

We were the last ones to arrive but that meant everyone else was unpacked and ready to hold the girls for us! It was great to see my family. There were 22 of us, and then the 4 babies [my girls and my two nephews].

I'll write more about the week later but until then, enjoy some pictures.

Brooke enjoyed lots of this


We all enjoyed lots of this.



And this...



And this...



And of course THIS.... [the mint colored house was ours]

Fair Week

This week is a big week in our county, the 4-H Fair is open! I grew up doing 4-H, but our fair back in Philly was NOTHING compared to the one here in Indiana. Elkhart has one of the largest county fairs in the country.

Sunday we went for free day [so basically no admission] and took the girls to see all of the animals. There is a little petting farm but we also went and saw the larger animals; like the pigs, cows, draft horses, and alpacas.

Last night we left the kiddos at home and just Dustin and I went. We met our friends Chad and Mandy there for the The Band Perry concert [Do you know how weird it feels to write 'the' two times in a row]. The grandstand seats are free and Chad and Mandy got there early enough to get us in the third row. It was awesome! We ate enough fried food to meet our calorie consumption for the rest of the week and sang our hearts out.

Well, I'm off to zip up our suitcases and throw them in the car. We are leaving for vacation tonight! I'll see you all in 10 days. :)

One Week

You think I'm talking about this post, don't you? While I am super excited about that for many, many reasons... we will actually be there on Saturday afternoon. So where will we be on Friday you ask?

And no, that is not where our beach house is. Our beach house is about 3 hours north of this little piece of heaven in South Carolina. We are going there for a much more personal reason. My roommate and best friend from college, Amy, lives there with her husband.

Our story begins Freshman year when we were paired as roommates. I wrote about her in this post, if you remember.

Apparently we liked to do things like destroy signs from the opposing political party.

Sit in boxes.



Hide in corn fields.

Show school spirit.

And hang out our third story window, risking our lives for an awesome snow picture.

Somewhere during out second year at Taylor we drifted apart. I moved to another wing for Junior year to room with another friend, and she stayed behind. We didn't talk as much as we used to. But then...

We shared our engagements together.

Reunited Senior year for student teaching.

Tried on wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses together.

Shared in my wedding together.

Had visits at TU.



She was one of the first to know that I was pregnant with Brooke.
And in turn [the second picture is just foreshadowing] she recently told me that SHE is pregnant.



We graduated together.

I shared in her wedding, 25 weeks pregnant with Brooke.

Had visits in South Carolina. The first picture is from Wilmington, NC, where One Tree Hill is filmed. We share a mutual love for that show and HAD to make a visit.

And then I surprised her at a Panera Bread in Ohio on the way to Philly for Thanksgiving this past Fall.

Amy is one of my best friends. No matter how far apart we are, or how long it has been since we have talked, we can always pick up where we left off. We can be serious together, cry together, and laugh together. Amy is my most honest friend and always held me accountable, and I know that I can call her if I ever really just need to talk.

To say I can't wait to see her would be an understatement.

So I repeat.

ONE WEEK.

Is this thing on?

July is probably our busiest month of the summer, so that is why my blog may seem neglected. We have had BBQs and days at the lake. We spend our days outside swimming and sunning, and the Nook has been getting lots of use. In just over a week starts the local 4H fair, which is one of the largest in the country, and we already have two nights planned to be there. The weekend after that we leave for vacation. Where are we going you ask?

And yes, that is the beach right on the other side of it. When I stand on the beach and look back, I'll see this.



We also have a pool and hot tub



A nice kitchen



And entertainment...

There are also 8 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. There are beach chairs, game systems, kids stuff, and even a huge sandbox underneath the house. There will be 22 of us going and I have been looking forward to this since we booked it this past Winter. Now on to making myself look good in a bathing suit...