My parents have a timeshare and they get to go different places a few times a year. Some of their very favorite places to go are to Lake Lure and Sapphire Valley (both in the mountains of NC.) They asked us if the family wanted to go up with them over the week of the 4th. We had a really busy weekend the actual weekend they left to go up there, but we joined them on Tuesday and got to stay until Friday, so it was a nice trip.. just long enough to get away from everyday stresses, but not so long that we got homesick or had "back home blues" because we got to used to being relaxed! ;)
We left Tuesday evening about 5pm. I thought the kids would be horrible for us on the trip up, but I was pleasantly surprised with them most of the time. I had packed the backseats with books for them to look at, and that kept them occupied alot of the time. They also had a few snacks for them back there. Towards the end we had to turn "Dora" on the van dvd player, but it was all good. We had printed out directions from the internet on how to get there, and also had my parents' GPS. Mom had just typed in the actual town though, not the actual place where the condo was. So we ended up taking a wrong turn. We kept going and going down this one road and eventually got to a sign that said "WELCOME TO SOUTH CAROLINA!!!" Well... um... we weren't supposed to be in another state obviously! To be fair, the condo WAS close to the South Carolina border, so we weren't TOO far off. Once we asked for clarification at the gas station down the road we found our way fine, and got there a little bit later. The directions said we were supposed to get there in around 2 1/2 hours, but it took over 3 hours. Thankfully my dad had cooked us an AWESOME dinner so when we got there we were able to eat right away (we didn't get there until after 8pm!)
The next few days were great. The kids loved spending the extra time with their grandparents. On the 4th of July we went down to the Rec Center and took the kids swimming. Well I didn't get in with them.. Arnold and my parents did. I laid back in a lawn chair and started on my new book Arnold got me for my birthday (the 18th Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum novel ;) Rachel and Caleb insisted they did NOT want to swim, but Arnold got them to at least sit on the edge of the small kid pool and splash around for a bit. When we were done there we took the kids to the "Yankee Doodle" Celebration they were having. They had bounce houses and games set up for the kids, and they played on the playground some, too. We got snacks of popcorn and red or blue sno-cones (even Arnold and I joined in on the sno-cones! ;) Then we had some hotdogs and hamburgers for lunch that they were selling. We were going to go back that evening for the rock mining and to see some fireworks, but that afternoon we got a HUGE storm there, so it was all rained out. We ended up watching the Macy's Fireworks show on TV. It was ok though, everyone was exhausted from the heat after all of that, anyway. That night we made homeade pizzas for dinner which were really yummy!
Thursday we drove into one of the nearby towns to look around in the shops. We had forgotten to bring Brooke's bathing suit with us on the trip and we needed to get her a new one. The first day we got there we let her swim in a tshirt and shorts but it wasn't ideal! Anyway, we went into the CUTEST little kids' boutique store. I'm telling you-- if we had tons and tons of money my kids would be wearing stuff like that.. with all the frills and smocking and stuff like that.. I LOVE it. But of course it is crazy expensive. The CHEAPEST bathing suit we could find for Brooke was $56 (yes you read that right!) I honestly think the last bathing suit I bought brooke cost around $8 at Target! Thank goodness she has a kind grandmother that bought it for her! Although Mom said that suit better last through Rachel, too! ;) I actually saw a dress hanging up for a toddler girl that was $315. What was that dress made out of anyway?! Arnold said it was made with gold stitching ;) Anyway, after that we went to lunch at a nearby Wendy's. This was a fancy Wendy's, I was impressed! ;) The kids got these cool little games in their kids' meals which we played with that afternoon in our bedroom since it rained AGAIN! My dad did end up taking Brooke swimming again that afternoon though, before it started. My girl is like a little fishy, she'd stay in the water all day if you let her!
We left Friday morning early. Check out time was 10am but we actually got everybody ready and everything packed up before that, so we just went ahead and left (don't know how we managed that!!) We stopped for breakfast on the way with my parents and then set off home. The trip home seemed a lot longer. The kids were NOT that good this time around. We turned up the radio and sang along with the songs though, and that was fun. Yall should see our "family singalongs" sometime.. you would laugh.. hard ;)
**And I must take this time to say a shout-out THANKS to my friend Erika, who took car of our kitten, Molly, while we were gone. Since she was such a little thing and so used to human interaction, I didn't want to leave her here and have someone come by to feed her. I knew she would do better with people. Erika sent me a pic of her 2-year old holding her one day, and I was afraid I wouldn't be getting Molly back after that-- she looked so happy! ;) Anyway, thankful for great friends who help a girl out in her time of need! ;) **
Brooke hanging out in the pool
Caleb and Daddy hanging out on the swinging bench, watching the girls swing
Rachel getting a ride on Daddy's shoulders while we waited on food.
The kids and us at our picnic table waiting on lunch. Brooke's teeth are blue from that sno-cone she had earlier in the day!
Rachel passed out on my bed the night of the 4th. She had had a rough day ;) Her PJ's say "Daddy's Little Sparkler!" Perfect PJ's for the occasion ;)
Daddy reading to Rachel one night before bed.
Brooke hanging outside on the deck. She looks so grown up here!
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