Beach Trip - 2012

We began our annual beach trip like usual, at the waterpark in North Charleston.  We do this every year just before school starts.









Our little one was finally tall enough to participate in the carpet ride.  It was her funnest ride at the park, and we rode it over and over....

Mommy had a lot of fun, too, and enjoyed it just as much as the kids.  I think this is the first year we have as many pictures of Mommy & Daddy having fun as we do the kids!

Of course, the little one didn't like all the water splashing in her eyes, so she wore goggles for most of the time.

It was so enjoyable watching all the kids play, get along, and help each other up the obstacles.

Even Daddy had a blast riding on the big water slides!
















One last parting shot before we leave the water park.  Now, off to the beach......













Daddy and our son immediately took to the waves.  They caught some great curls, or as big as they get on our side of the coast.

The little one was busy the whole time in the sand.  She was fascinated with how the water in her moat quickly disappears.  So, she was busy gathering water for her moat for about an hour.

After the beach, we decided to take a stroll along the boardwalk by the marina.  We saw beautiful condos, gorgious yachts, and an iconic lighthouse just minutes from our hotel.

The little one sang, skipped, and kept us smiling....














While the older ones found different places to pose for a picture.















It was so calm and peaceful there.  The perfect break before all the hustle & bustle of school, athletics, and fall activities.

But, we had to get back.  One last look at the marina, and time to head back home.










Most people would be in a hurry to get home, but not if your husband is a big kid himself.  We kept seeing signs for this place called "South of the Border", which is literally just south of the NC border (meaning, it's still in SC).  Some genius marketed this small town as being a stop-over point for families traveling to Florida.  And, I guess it worked.

Daddy wanted to pose with "Pedro", the patron of this Mexican roadside attraction.










The gift shops are full of sombreros, chili pepper sun glasses, and maracas.  It was so cheesy, you couldn't help but laugh, especially when you're from Texas.










The next time we have company, we'll be sure to mention this place.  Although, unless you're going along that route anyway, I wouldn't recommend it.

42 Years Young!

What better way to celebrate the man of the house's 42nd birthday than with a CARS themed birthday party (because we couldn't find a mustang cake)! After a wonderful meal at Outback Steakhouse, he opened his presents with help from the little one, and partied over some delicious, but over-iced cake!  A new buzz haircut, a fancy edger, and framed pictures from his bull riding event were among the great presents given!  Happy Birthday DAD!

Camp McConnell

This weekend we had our god-daughter stay with us for Camp McConnell. She prepared well for camp by typing up her favorite recipes.  Her first meal to prepare consisted of  watermelon and chips & hot sauce for the first course, grilled maple chicken with an Asian salad and grilled sweet potatoes as the main dish, then Texas Tiramasu for dessert.  Our oldest daughter was the trainer, while two cute little girls waited tables.

After cooking class, it was time for the physical endurance test.  She performed well going up and down steep hills without ever stopping. 

In the morning she got up early to cook breakfast.  While everyone was getting ready for work/daycare, the girls baked home-made cinnamon rolls with fresh fruit!

Bull Riding

Some call it a mid-life crisis, others chalk it up to a "bucket list", but whatever you want to call it, my husband loves the thrill of living on the edge, occasionally.  


He spends 99% of his time being the wonderful dad, husband, & provider he needs to be, but that 1% of his time he enjoys dangerous adventures.  Last night was bull riding.  At 41, he decided to ride a bull for the first time.......

He actually stayed on the bull about 4 seconds, and had a 2nd place finish believe it or not.  Unfortunately, only 1st place won money, but that didn't matter.  He was a winner just being able to walk away without needing a trip to the ER.  He did take some Advil when he got home, though.  :)

Family Adventure Day: Lake Conestee National Park

Having an open Saturday with no activities or places to be, we took advantage and went on a little family outing to a nearby picnic area and hiking trail. The weather was supposed to be rain and storm all day, but as it turned out, it was just the opposite. The scattered clouds made for a combination of warm weather, but not too hot and with lots of shade- the ideal hiking conditions! After a delicious turkey sandwich picnic, we took a pleasant 1.8 mile hike down to a nearby dam, viewing the abundance of wildlife along the way. Then back to our neighborhood for a refreshing swim at our clubhouse pool! 

Triathalon

Our oldest participated in her first triathalon this morning!  It began with 275 yd swim, then 10 mi. bike ride, and finished with 2.5 mile run.














Her positioning was good, about halfway in the pack.  Right away, though, she passed 3 people in the water.  Awesome swimmer!











She had a great swim time, then off to transition to the bike.  We practiced this at home several times.  On her first practice attempt, her transition time was 2.5 minutes because she had to grab everything out of her bag, towel down, put on shorts, socks, shoes, then neatly put everything back in the bag.  By this morning, she had it down to a science of only 45 sec:  everything already laid out, no towel, and swam in the biking shorts.

Once on the bike, she passed her first person right out of the shoot.













The transition from bike to run was much quicker since she only had her helmet to take off.  Then, off she goes again!










The run was her best event, and that was great to have it at the end. She passed several more people and finished strong with a time of 1 hr, 3 minutes!  She placed 19th overall, and 1st in her age group!  Unfortunately, the award was a bottle of wine, so she won't be able to enjoy it.  Oh well, her parents will enjoy it for her.  :)

Blueberry Time!

It's prime season for blueberries, and our favorite fruit to pick!  They taste best right off the shrub - sweet and warmed by the sun.  But, they're delicious all week long, too, and keep well frozen.  We pick enough to store for a year to eat raw, top on our oatmeal, or add to waffles and muffins!

Flipping Houses

With the downturn in the economy, one area that's promising is home sales.  We decided to invest a little into the house flipping business to supplement our income.  It doesn't make a lot on the small scale we're doing, but we take pride in working hard since it's our own business.  Here are some before & after pictures.  The house went on the market yesterday.

The day we bought it foreclosed.  Broken fence, roof & siding stains, faded shutters, poor landscaping and lots of weeds in the yard.

After fixing up and putting on the market.  Pressure washed outside, roof, fixed & stained fence, painted door & shutters, repainted mailbox, mulched, updated landscaping, and now a beautiful lawn.










You can't tell from this "before" picture, but the wood floor didn't go all the way to the walls.  There was poor transition from one flooring to the other, and lots of blemishes in the walls that were "covered" up.









Sanded walls, fresh paint, added baseboard quarter-round and other transition pieces, repainted/stained trim, and added some decoration.

Before picture of kitchen.

We didn't do much here except a lot of cleaning and scrubbing the cabinets & counter tops, then added a few decorations.

My camera phone took a much darker picture of the "before" shot, but again, just lots little touch ups needed and of course, cleaning!

After shot of the kitchen, all cleaned and disinfected!













This last set is of the master bath.  It was difficult to get the whole bathroom in one picture, but when we bought the house, there were lots of stains in the bathtub, shower, and toilet, with "winterized" stickers all over everything.  A thorough cleaning job, some flowers, new towels & toilet paper holder made a huge difference.

Texas Trip

We started our summer vacation at Grandma Linda's house in Dallas.  We loved her pool, the awesome food, and Grampa Mike!

After 3 relaxing days, it's off to the San Gabriel farm.  On the way, we stop for kolaches and pepper puppies, our favorite tradition.




We also passed by a local farmer selling yellow watermelon.  So, anyone who knows my daughter knows we had to stop.  We were only at the farm for 4 days, so that meant 4 watermelons to purchase.









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We caught lots of fish over the 4 days, everyone caught at least one.  Although we only reeled in bass up to a pound, we lost several much larger that flipped off the hook.  It was great to see fish active again in the lake.







Our big project was to "trim" the cactus.  Well, it was so overgrown and brown that we decided to chop it back to the bare stump.  Our philosophy was that if it grows back, it will be nice & green again.  If it dies, we'll pull it up and plant something a little less prickly to prune.  The kids & I are still having to tweeze out splinters 2 weeks later.

before

after

Then, off to the Shiner farm to see our cousins and Grandma TC.  Our oldest saw a huge zucchini in the garden, so we made zucchini bread.  The little one had fun chasing the chickens and playing in the pool.  I didn't get a picture of the J&J twin cousins, but they were always together on the zip line, swimming, or having airsoft wars.

























When it was time to leave, we did everything we could think of to delay our departure so we could see "Mr. Turtle", but we had to be in Austin by 2pm and time was running out.  So, we said our good-byes, locked up the animals, and headed off to Austin for one last family visit.

Now, there's a saying in the capitol to "Keep Austin Weird", and we understood why after a wonderful tour from my sister.  We started with the famous food trailers, drove by container box housing units, and finished at the Cathedral of Junk.  This place is made of junk stored over the years into a large pile in someone's backyard.  It's been carefully piled with themes, colors, and steps so people can climb to the top.




With our final cousin stop over, we ended with lots of hugs, kisses, & giggles.  Until next visit, bye Texas!