Myrtle Beach July 2019

We are usually gone on our road trip by this point in the summer.

But since we're leaving B in Utah, we needed to leave later than usual.

Which meant we were in NC for the Fourth of July!

I made a last-minute plan to head to Myrtle for the Fourth.

Last-minute planning to a huge tourist location on

one of the biggest travel days of the year? Not a great idea.

The only decent ocean-front hotels/condos were going for $500/night or more.

Not in our budget.

I ended up getting a hotel that was about 10 miles from the beach.

Not the usual way we vacation, but we still had fun.

The upside? There was a cook-out right next to our hotel.

Birthday shakes for B-train!

Trying to find a place to park at the beach on the Fourth

was RIDICULOUS. Poor Andrew had to drop us off and

park about a mile away and walk back to us. Lame.

It was beautiful weather for a beach day.

But it was SUPER packed,

which we are also not used to,

since we generally go during off-peak times of year.

The kids wanted to leave as soon as we got there.

We stayed for a couple of hours and then were 

ready to be done.

 After we showered, we headed back into town

to our favorite arcade, Fun Plaza.

They are starting to modernize,

with cards to swipe instead of tokens or quarters.

We were hoping to watch fireworks on the beach,

but it started raining.

We drove to Broadway on the Beach,

tried to find a not-too-crowded place to park,

and watched the fireworks from a parking lot,

under an umbrella.

I didn't take any pics.

 The next day we found...

Dave and Buster's!

A new addition to Broadway at the Beach. Yay!

We watched Toy Story 4.

So good.

And walked around a bit,

making sure we stopped at the Qwik-E-Mart.

We had dinner that night at Medieval Times.

We'd been there once before, but C was too young to remember.

We were in the Blue Knight's section this time.

Go Blue Knight!

The whole spectacle is such a unique experience!

Whitney caught one of the flowers

the Blue Knight threw into our section.

My favorite action shot of the night.

Aren't those sparks cool?

The Blue Knight was good.

And he kept winning the challenges.

The way the program works, they are looking for

a winning Knight. And OUR Knight won! Woo hoo!

the end of the evening, they choose one lucky 

girl/woman from the winning knight's section to be

"The Queen of Love and Beauty."

And they chose CAROLINE!

What????

The kids and I were super loud cheerleaders

for our Knight. I'm thinking that's why she was chosen.

So cool!

She got to keep the tiara and sash and they

even gave her this photo at the end.

Super fun.

We waited in the lobby afterward so we could

get a picture with our knight. Yes!

And with the queen.

The next day, we checked out of our hotel

and I had scheduled a dolphin cruise.

It was a little longer than we would've liked.

And we didn't get to see any dolphins.

Kind of boring.

 As part of the deal, if you don't see a dolphin on your

cruise, you can come back free of charge anytime.

I totally want to try again.

Andrew's not so sure he's up for it.

I wish I would've decided to do this sooner so I could've planned ahead and gotten us a more convenient hotel. But I'm so glad we had a little weekend together with just the five of us. In just a few weeks our whole family dynamic will be different. I cherish these times. 

What June Looked Like

I love June!

We had Care Bear's birthday party at the beginning of June.

Piper, Mia, Ally, both Carolines, KK, Cora, Shreya, and Sarah

We had a scavenger hunt.

Lunch

Pinata

Played some Minute-to-win-it games

The girls decorated their own cupcakes

The birthday girl

Yum

Opening gifts

Seminary graduation!

He did his last semester almost completely online,

but at least he did it!

So happy I could have B in seminary.

Proud of all the work he did to graduate.

Seminary ends a few days before school ends,

I promised Care Bear that when seminary was done,

I would ride bikes with her to school.

Oh my gosh.

I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

It was HARD!

But a fun way to start my morning.

Haircut time: Before

After

Birthday cupcakes for me from Maxie B's

So, so good!

The kids were excited to give me the gift they picked out--

a tortilla blanket!

It's hilarious, but also cozy. I like it!

Andrew found this perfect shirt for me.

"Take more detours" with a cactus graphic????

So me!

I also asked for a new hand mixer. It's great.

When my mom was in town, she was

excited to see her friend, Ethel.

They keep in touch through email when she's at home.

More of W's beautiful dancing-on-the-beach pics

 On our way home from the beach,

we stopped at Duke Gardens with Grandma Cuca.

It was not too hot and the gardens are gorgeous.

Grandma knows the names of so many flowers.

Love that she can share her knowledge with us.

Pretty succulent

A relaxing way to spend an afternoon.

Chinese Checkers

High Point got a new baseball team,

the Rockers. We took Grandma to a game.

Pretty fun, but I like Grasshoppers games better.

We also took her to watch the new live-action Aladdin.

It was great.

Ward picnic

Father's Day

We played Punderdome

After my parents had their getaway to Palmyra,

they stayed one more night with us before heading back to Texas.

We had Ethel over for dinner with us that night.

Bowling with the Blau's.

Ryan's sister was also visiting from AZ.

Always fun to catch up with cousins.

Science Center with KK

We got to watch them feed the snakes.

Kinda creepy.

Trampoline park with Finley

The Hunter's were so kind and hosted us for a

going-away party for B-train. Loved hanging out with them.

Sweats are #1

Jayne also hosted a joint graduation party for Brandon and Shane. 

Loved this cake with both boys' college colors.

Loved re-creating this pic from pre-K

We had FOUR guitar players there!

Had a fun little jam session.

More time with my favorite babies!

Girls Night Out while Jayne was in town

Lake Day at the Hunters

For our anniversary, Andrew and I planned a little 

getaway to the mountains. It coincided with our

youth conference, which was also in the mountains,

so we volunteered to drive the YW up.

Ivy, Whit, Brianna, Savannah, Mallory

Roomies!

It was at Warren Wilson College.

They had a FABULOUS time.

We stopped at at cute museum.

Yummy lunch at My Father's Pizza

LOVE spending time in the mountains

Hiked to Crabtree Falls

We stayed at a little bed and breakfast in Little Switzerland.

The place itself was just OK.

It was called Skyline Village Inn.

The view was AMAZING.

The room was nothing special.

The breakfast was fine.

If I could go back, I would stay at the Switzerland Inn.

We ate at their restaurant one night.

It was DELICIOUS and the whole property was very quaint.

We went tubing on the Catawba River.

I forgot our waterproof camera, so we don't have any pics.

It was perfect. A few little rapids,

but mostly just drifting lazily along.

We stopped at The orchard at Altapass along the drive.

It sounded cuter than it was.

I took Andrew back to Rough Ridge,

where the girls and I hiked last summer.

The wild blueberries were in season again.

LOVE the views up here!

They made Andrew nervous.

Then we headed to Blowing Rock.

Stopped for lunch at Foggy Rock Eatery,

another scrumptious meal. 

Stopped in the Blowing Rock Art Museum.

It was a WONDERFUL anniversary getaway.

Oh, how we'll miss having Brandon around when he moves.