Family Beach Trip

Early this summer, Mom came up with the grand idea to take a family vacation. It has been 6 years since we've been on vacation together. So, it was definitely time to plan something and I am so glad we got it on the calendar early in the summer. With reservations made and our place paid for, we had no choice but to schedule our transition around it. While it added a little craziness to the end of the summer, I am so glad we did it. It was a great week of relaxation! I was a little nervous that I would be anxious about the coming week knowing all of our stuff was sitting just waiting to be unpacked and organized, but I was able to completely check out, relax, and sleep a lot! :)

Stephen and I have gotten in the habit of cramming as much into a day as we possibly can. We had a wedding of some sweet friends to go to the same day our beach trip started. So, we stayed in Durham, went to the wedding, and then drove through the night to get to the beach. I told Stephen I'm okay with not driving through the night again for a long time after this summer! But, it was worth it to see these friends get hitched and get as much beach time in as possible!

Hello, Myrtle Beach!

We stayed beach front at the Mar Vista Grande in North Myrtle Beach. Great place full of really nice condos. Three bedrooms, three bathrooms...perfect!

No beach trip is complete without a trip to Krispy Kreme when the hot light is on. It's always more fun when you take selfies in the elevator on the way too.

The week had several cloudy days. Thankfully we got some beach time each day with three really good sun days! But, the cloudy days were perfect for walking on the beach!

When you can't nap on the beach, nap on the couch. We got a lot of much needed sleep this past week! Ours and Allyson's bedrooms faced the inside of the building, which meant the windows got no natural light, which meant you lost all concept of time because it always felt like the middle of the night...it was great!

Shopping was a nightly activity. South Carolina still does tax free weekend. We timed it perfectly and spent Friday evening at the outlets racking up on some awesome deals!

We had some yummy seafood with Uncle Don!

And, we got to catch up with some old friends! This is when social media is great. I saw on IG that some of our close friends from Georgia were in Myrtle Beach. We caught them just in time to spend a day on the beach with them and their sweet daughter. As an added bonus, they were there with some other good friends from college. It was great catching up and meeting their sweet babies!

And, we got to catch up with some of my parents' old friends who were at the beach at the same time as us too.

Then, we got to visit with my aunt and uncle who were camping for the week. Added bonus, Grandma and Pa came down for a few days. We went to their camp site one evening for a cook out and some putt putt! Grandma got 4 holes in one even though she hadn't played in over 40 years. We had a great time!

Here are two of her holes in ones. She's so proud! :)

When we weren't sleeping, eating, shopping, or visiting with family and friends, a lot of this happened! Well, at least for me and mom. No one else cared much about being beach bums like we did.

Sadly, vacation always has to come to an end. Unfortunately we spent our trip home sitting in traffic. What should have taken three hours, took 5 and a half hours...

Thankfully, we had some entertainment...dad had to get out to check things out. The genius DOT decided a Saturday in August (when a lot of people are leaving and coming to the beach) was a great time to shut down a two lane road (one lane in each direction) to one lane to work on a bridge. It took us an hour and a half to go 6 miles...S.I.X.M.I.L.E.S!

But, we made it...After church with our family today, we officially leave Durham tomorrow morning at 6am.

Morganton, here we come! Bull City, see ya later!