Edisto Fun 2014

2014 Edisto Family Picture

Dave left early from work on Wednesday and we drove down to Edisto for a long weekend with his family. After a quick stop at Chick fil A we arrived at the beach around 8pm, just in time for dessert.  The kids were super excited about hitting the beach "early" on Thursday morning.

These four had a blast the entire weekend.  Day 1 was beautiful!  They had tons of fun tubing, using their boogie boards, digging in the sand, and looking for shells.Unfortunately, Savannah got a bit too much sun. :(  But she didn't let that slow her down.  We enjoyed dinner out Thursday night at a local restaurant.

Silly kids waiting for dinner

Friday we were up and at the beach by 10am.  Again, the kids had a blast playing in the water and sand with their cousins, grandparents, and daddy.  I'm not an ocean kind of girl so I enjoyed my time in the shade of the tent.

Are you ready to coming tubing Papa??

Lunch was really the only time everyone was sitting still together

It's a tradition for the kids to bury Dave in the sand

After of course Preston wanted to be buried too

Friday afternoon a big storm came in so we opted for leftovers for dinner and a Frozen movie night!

We all enjoyed another fun full day on Saturday and took lots of pictures.  Unfortunately our beach time was over, but there's always next year to look forward to. :)

Thank you Grammy and Papa for a super fun weekend at Edisto!

Catching Up with Forever Friends

Two of my favorites, Jessica & Donna

This summer we have already spent A LOT of time at the pool!  The kids have both become pretty good swimmers and both have swim bands.  Preston earned his yellow band this year and Savannah has her green band, which gives her free range of the pool solo.  So anytime I've wanted to catch up with some mommy friends, the pool has been the obvious choice . . . a place where the kids play and we can chat while keeping a watchful eye on the little ones. :)

Last Thursday my sweet friend Jessica, who now lives in Birmingham, came to Charlotte for a visit.  We met at the pool for a fun-filled morning.  It was a blast catching up with her and seeing her "little" ones too.

Hard to believe Jessica, Donna and I were in Bible study together long before any of these kiddos were born

On Friday we were able to spend some quality time with my precious friend Elaine, who just moved to Union county.  I forgot to take a picture of Kailyn and Ethan, but they have grown up too!  Elaine and I are both teachers so it was fun to compare notes and to catch up on life in general.

Savannah, Anna Kate, Preston, and "Baby" Ben

This week the fun started on Monday with a surprise play date at the park with the Marion crew.  Savannah knew that they were back in town (and in the USA for good, well at least for this year) but had no idea we were going to get to see them this week. :)  We drove up to the park and she started screaming "Anna Kate, Anna Kate!"  It was precious.  These four have so missed each other the past 3 years and we're all looking forward to having them back down the street from us.  It was a perfect park day and we enjoyed catching up and then a trip to the library too.

On Wednesday Preston had his friend Hamilton to the pool for a play date.  Savannah happily joined the boys playing and was thrilled when some of her own friends showed up for another play date.  So, these eight kiddos had a blast for over 4 hours at the pool!  Here is a picture of their picnic lunch time. :)

Yesterday we took the Poplin boys to the park for the morning and then ventured to Carowinds while we waited for Daddy to arrive home from Texas.  It was super fun, but we were quite exhausted after such a full day (week) and having to endure 485 traffic.  Yuck!  Dave was very delayed and didn't get home until after 1:15 am!  

We've also had a play date with Miss Jenny and her boys, had the Karhan boys over for an afternoon of fun, and been able to catch up with the Page's in Mebane . . . all in the past week and a half.  It's been a
fun filled time and long, long overdue in catching up with so many friends I love!  The cool thing is that with each of these girls we have picked up right where we left off.  Truly life long friends that I am blessed to have.

Happy 4th of July

For all 3 of them it was their first experience with sparklers!!

We had a super fun day at swim lessons and then the Y pool with our friends the Ezells.  Once Dave was home from work we grilled out burgers and then ventured to Carowinds for the firework show.  What a fun way to start the weekend.  Happy 4th of July!

McAllister's Dinner

Silly kids enjoying their lemonade!

Dave has been working late with month end "festivities".  I received a gift card this week from a student to McAllister's so we took advantage of kids eat free and had dinner out tonight.  Only on special dinners out do they get to enjoy Cheetos with macaroni and cheese for dinner . . . with super sweet lemonade AND teddy grahams.  We just happened to get Daddy's favorite number on our order card.

A New Running Buddy

All ready for their first run together

For a long time now Dave and I have enjoyed Saturday morning runs together.  Preston has been begging to go on a run with alone with Daddy so we told him that once he turned 5 he could start doing weekend runs with Daddy.  After the chaos of birthday parties and our trip, Saturday morning arrived and we had one happy boy on our hands. ;)  They ran a mile in about 13 minutes.  He LOVED running with daddy and is already looking forward to next week!

10th Anniversary Trip . . . a Little Preview of Heaven!

Bright and early Sunday morning Dave and I headed to the airport for our 7:55 flight to Cancun, Mexico. Thankfully our precious friends the Karhans volunteered to let Savannah and Preston sleep over with them on Saturday night so we didn't have to get them up at 4 am on Sunday. Once we dropped them off our vacation officially had begun. I knew we were going to have a super fun, relaxing time but I had no clue just how amazing our trip would be.

Leaving on a jet plane

We arrived in Cancun and quickly boarded a bus for Secrets Maroma Beach.  Upon arriving at the resort we were told to sit and wait out front.  Little did we know our preferred club room benefits were beginning already.  A little cart picked us up and sped us around to an air conditioned club where we were told that they had upgraded our room to ocean front!  They gave us a pager which would go off when our room was ready and then escorted us to lunch.

Waiting for our room on a comfy bed in the middle of the resort

After lunch we still had some time before our room was ready so we found this bed to rest on.  We enjoyed the ocean breeze and a nice cold beverage while we played cards. Right at 3pm our room was ready and Mar escorted us to the room.  I think my mouth almost hit the floor when we walked in!  The view was incredible!  From our private terrace we could walk into our pool and just past that we could see the amazing turquoise water on the beach.  Plus the room was pretty fabulous too.  Mar assured us that she was there if we needed anything . . . more chocolate, more drinks, more pistachios, more anything just call her and she would bring it right over.  Seriously??  Yep, and she did!  Not that we called her a lot because they checked/restocked our room at least 2 or 3 times a day!

No time to waste!  Let the fun in the sun (ok, shade) begin!

My view Day 1 . . I could get used to this!

We spent most of our time just relaxing in the shade by the pool where we could see the beach.  We enjoyed pool side service, some quiet time reading, a nice walk on the beach (which had the whitest coolest sand ever), and just not having to be on a schedule at all.  I think it took me a good day and a half to unwind and relax without worrying about anything . . . which was long overdue!

I loved the swings at the beach bar!

The resort also had tons of activities you could do.  We went on a kayak tour to the reef, a bike tour of the resort, and also enjoyed several night time shows.  One night we checked out the foam party on the beach but decided that wasn't quite our style.  Ha!

On Wednesday we did a bike tour of the area and ended at the amazing beach

Unlike our honeymoon, we actually found the gym too!  Dave and I worked out three mornings together before hitting the breakfast buffet. :)

This man made me one happy girl each morning with my made to order chocolate crepes

Oh and the spa was incredible too.  Once we discovered that the hydrotherapy circuit was included with our preferred room we went every single day!  It was almost just like getting a massage, only you had to walk yourself through the circuit.  It began with the sauna, then steam room, super cold water tank, warm water tank and then you walked through the 5 water massaging stations before ending in the jacuzzi.  It did wonders for Dave's neck and this girl sure loved the extra pampering!

The Spa!  We went every day for our Hydrotherapy circuit

Enjoying the shade at the pool

Room service 24/7 was also included with our room.  We took advantage of ordering lunch in and another day of ordering some nighttime dessert.

Room service via the secret box

Sadly after 3 full days at the resort it was time to leave. :(  We were up early to pack and catch the shuttle back to the airport and this was the view from our room.

Our last morning . . . the sunrise from our room

This was such an amazing trip.  A chance to catch up with one another and celebrate 10 years of marriage.  I have to say it was just what the doctor ordered.

Faith Family & Freedom Concert

The kids really enjoyed the Faith Family and Freedom concert last year so we made sure that we worked our vacation around it this year!  It was a super fun night . . even though we had to leave before the fireworks.  We still saw four different Christian groups for a whopping $5 each. :)