So maybe I got in a fight with my blog and ended up forgetting to post this...better late than never!
A few weeks ago we took a vacation with my family out to Myrtle Beach :) I've always LOVED going on our yearly family vacations, there's really no better time than time spent with them.
A few weeks ago we took a vacation with my family out to Myrtle Beach :) I've always LOVED going on our yearly family vacations, there's really no better time than time spent with them.
This year was especially exciting for two reasons. 1. I got to show Curtis a glimpse of where I grew up, which was really fun for me. 2. Our family grew by 2 adults since our last vacation, meaning that this is how big our family is going to get besides the kiddos :) It was a lot of fun having everyone together for the full week. So many laughs, games, and relaxation time. Plus we found out that you really do need this many adults to tire out the kids on the beach!
We flew in pretty late on Saturday night so we just grabbed our bags and found our hotel room. The next day we had some time in the morning to drive around good old North Carolina. We drove past my old house to show Curtis and Lauren, and I was sure to point out everything about my life there during the drive. I'm sure I wasn't too annoying about it :) After our trip down memory lane, it was time for the 4 hour drive to Myrtle Beach....which really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
The resort was really nice, and we stayed in two villas, which were pretty much two bedroom apartments so we stocked up on groceries for the week and got settled in.
A majority of the trip was spent at the beach or at the pool, and I honestly can't think of a better way to spend a vacation. It was so relaxing every day! When night came around the board games came out, and the many many laughs began :)
On Monday night we went out to dinner at the Pirate's Voyage which was so much fun! First we got our faces painted (at least the girls did), because you can't go to a place like this and NOT go all out. They had music and activities going before the main show. When it was ready to start we went into the big room and they seated us around the "stage", which was a big pool and pirate ship. There was so much food!! They just kept bringing it, and really it was all delicious. I was so full by the end of it and only ate half of each thing they brought. While we were eating there was an acrobatic show going on between two different teams of pirates. We had flags and swords so that we could cheer on our side. I was amazed by the stunts, flips, overall strength of the actors. It was a great way to start out our week :)
The resort had so many different activities to do throughout the week that there really wasn't much need to leave :) One morning Curtis and I woke up early to go do stretching by the main pool with the fitness class. Of course we got lost trying to get there by ourselves and ended up only stretching for 5 minutes, but then they gave us fresh fruit and water to have while we watched the waves roll in. The amount of relaxation we got this week was incredible.
Then it was more pool and beach time, just like it should be :) Of course we burned regardless of the amount of sunscreen we put on, but I was proud of us for not being crispy. There's just something about sitting in the sand listening to the waves and feeling the sun hit your skin. Pure happiness! The girls were loving it!! Curtis spent a lot of time playing with June in the ocean while I sat in the sand next to Hazel. She was a little scared of the ocean so we dug her a hole to play in. She told me the best stories that day.
Another morning we went to paint ceramics with my mom. When I was little we went to Mexico and stayed at a very similar resort. I kept making my mom go down and paint plates and bowls with me because it was my absolute favourite thing! I was so excited to see that they did ceramic painting at this one too. When we got there it was definitely more kid friendly than the one we went to before. It was in an activities center and they didn't have plates or cups or anything but had lots of little figurines to paint. My mom painted a crab, I painted an elephant, and Curtis of course painted a Ninja Turtle. When I say Curtis painted a Ninja Turtle, I mean that he spent 2 hours perfecting this little guy :) The staff was amazed with his patience! When we went back the next day to pick up our creations the lady told us to write them a good review so that they can get more people our age doing it. She was so nice.
After painting we met the rest of the family at the beach of course! Anna realised that we now had the perfect amount of people to make a pyramid, so obviously this had to happen.
The resort was really nice, and we stayed in two villas, which were pretty much two bedroom apartments so we stocked up on groceries for the week and got settled in.
A majority of the trip was spent at the beach or at the pool, and I honestly can't think of a better way to spend a vacation. It was so relaxing every day! When night came around the board games came out, and the many many laughs began :)
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| Photo by Anna |
On Monday night we went out to dinner at the Pirate's Voyage which was so much fun! First we got our faces painted (at least the girls did), because you can't go to a place like this and NOT go all out. They had music and activities going before the main show. When it was ready to start we went into the big room and they seated us around the "stage", which was a big pool and pirate ship. There was so much food!! They just kept bringing it, and really it was all delicious. I was so full by the end of it and only ate half of each thing they brought. While we were eating there was an acrobatic show going on between two different teams of pirates. We had flags and swords so that we could cheer on our side. I was amazed by the stunts, flips, overall strength of the actors. It was a great way to start out our week :)
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| Photo from Anna's phone, also please notice Hazel's face.... |
The resort had so many different activities to do throughout the week that there really wasn't much need to leave :) One morning Curtis and I woke up early to go do stretching by the main pool with the fitness class. Of course we got lost trying to get there by ourselves and ended up only stretching for 5 minutes, but then they gave us fresh fruit and water to have while we watched the waves roll in. The amount of relaxation we got this week was incredible.
Then it was more pool and beach time, just like it should be :) Of course we burned regardless of the amount of sunscreen we put on, but I was proud of us for not being crispy. There's just something about sitting in the sand listening to the waves and feeling the sun hit your skin. Pure happiness! The girls were loving it!! Curtis spent a lot of time playing with June in the ocean while I sat in the sand next to Hazel. She was a little scared of the ocean so we dug her a hole to play in. She told me the best stories that day.
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| Photo by Anna |
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| Photo by Anna |
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| Photo by Anna |
Another morning we went to paint ceramics with my mom. When I was little we went to Mexico and stayed at a very similar resort. I kept making my mom go down and paint plates and bowls with me because it was my absolute favourite thing! I was so excited to see that they did ceramic painting at this one too. When we got there it was definitely more kid friendly than the one we went to before. It was in an activities center and they didn't have plates or cups or anything but had lots of little figurines to paint. My mom painted a crab, I painted an elephant, and Curtis of course painted a Ninja Turtle. When I say Curtis painted a Ninja Turtle, I mean that he spent 2 hours perfecting this little guy :) The staff was amazed with his patience! When we went back the next day to pick up our creations the lady told us to write them a good review so that they can get more people our age doing it. She was so nice.
After painting we met the rest of the family at the beach of course! Anna realised that we now had the perfect amount of people to make a pyramid, so obviously this had to happen.
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| Photo by Anna |
On our last night there we went mini golfing and walked around the boardwalk looking at the little shops. We all got some salt life shirts, and I couldn't resist getting a little shark one for the babes when she gets here :) And of course we ended the night with some ice cream! I had been looking forward to that moment ALL WEEK.
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| Photo by Anna |
The next day we made the drive back to Raleigh. I was so happy that I was able to go see my friend Leah! It was the first time I got to see her cute little baby boy. She even woke him up so that I could see his eyes and hold him :) We planned out our kids marriage while eating some more ice cream. It was so nice to catch up with them!
This entire trip I was horrible at taking pictures! I guess I was too relaxed to care, but luckily my sister in law is amazing at documenting these moments for all of us! I used a lot of her pictures here but if you want more check out her 3 posts about the vacation here... here..... and here!
I can't wait until our next family vacation :) Our family will grow by 2 again, but this time with two new little girls. So happy to have such an amazing family that I really do love spending so much time with!
