We set out to make this weekend a camping weekend!  We had a few reasons for this weekend.  The first, to celebrate a friends 9th birthday.  The second, to claim some much needed family time to slow down. 

 

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 We hit a few bumps along the way... after setting up the tent in the dark our car wouldn't start.  This morning a  wrecker was able to get it started but Mark had to spend much of the day on the hunt for a solution.  (The solution-not as simple as needing a new battery like we thought,  meant heading home early so we wouldn't have to turn the car off until we had parked it at the shop in Greenville to be worked on Monday.)  We sure did make the most of the time we had though!!

 Sophie loved canoeing!  Haleigh loved fishing (and caught one!)  Mackenzie loved playing with her buddy!

 Happy Birthday Josiah!!  I hope you had as much fun celebrating your birthday as we did!!  Thanks for inviting us to be part of it.

First Day of CC

Monday was our first day of our Classical Conversations Co-op.  

This is Sophie's sixth year of CC, Haleigh's third year, and Mackenzie's third year in the sibling class.  We are beyond blessed to be part of this community committed to walking this path of homeschooling together with support and lots of grace. 

First Days of School

According to "blog world" we haven't even started school.  Good thing we account for our days in the real world :) We have been in the thick of school for about 5 weeks now.  Stepping into our school routine and schedule of extracurriculars has kept us moving at a pretty constant pace.  Today, we (all but Mark, who is working hard at the hospital) are putting on the brakes, enjoying the cooler temps, playing outside, and getting caught up on all that has slipped by undone.  Ahhh, it feels so nice!  

Here is a glimpse at the last 5 weeks.

These are a new addition to our school day.  They keep us on track with what needs to be done for each gal.  The girls know what they have to do if I am working with someone else when they finish the assignment at hand.  They also know how much they must get done before a fun break, snack, or even a joke.

The Final Vacation Post

Saturday morning began with packing up the van and checking out of the condo we had called home for the past week. Next we checked into the Inn where we would spend our last night.
Our mission for the day was to have a family bike ride. However, we had some business to take care of first. Like 1 1/2 hours of business at the photography studio sorting through and picking pictures from Friday morning. Next, of coarse, was lunch and a few minutes at the playground.

Our biking adventure didn't turn out as expected, but it made for some laughable moments. We ended up relaying the bikes back to the rental shop and heading in the van to a beach side dinner.

After dinner we hit the waves for the final time.
Now these were waves!! BIG WAVES!!
We had a BLAST with many giggles and screams of delight!

After one more stop at Hilton Head Ice Cream three exhausted girls, and two very exhausted parents headed back to the room for scrubbing and a special family movie night.

On the way out of town we made our final stop,
The Flamingo Doughnut Shop.

That was the end of a sweet family vacation...

... and this is the end of the vacation posts :)

Sunrise to Sunset ~ Friday

"What did you do to your girls?"
This was the question asked by our waitress at breakfast early Friday morning.

The answer was...
We were up and on the beach by 6:15 A.M.
As part of our hotel booking package we had a family portrait sitting on the beach. When Mark called to schedule our session all of the "sunset bookings" for the week were full. You guessed it, that left the "sunrise booking."
Looking back on it, it was fun. Mackenzie made it somewhat stressful at the time. She was less than happy and really didn't want to get wet or sandy. Oh well, we did the best we could and will treasure the pictures we got forever!

Since we were up so early we had lots of time to fill up with fun.
Gran and Meeps took Sophie down to the pool while Mark and I took Haleigh and Mackenzie biking toward Harbour Town. Haleigh had a blast being "second seat" on the tandem bike with Mark. Mackenzie didn't like the biking adventure much at first. As we made our way down the paths she wanted me to sing to her so she wouldn't be scared of falling. After a few minutes I looked around to find her sound asleep!

Gran, Meeps, and Sophie met us for lunch and we traded bikers. Haleigh and Mackenzie went back to the condo for some rest and cooling off. Sophie, Mark, and I headed to a coffee shop and then hit the path to bike back. It was super fun!

Late afternoon found us on the beach followed by dinner, gelato, and a beautiful sunset!

Creature Day at the Beach ~ Thursday

Thursday morning we hit the beach. There were starfish everywhere. At one point we had about 12 starfish gathered in our buckets. (We released them all back to their home.) Several folks walking down the beach stopped to enjoy these unique little creatures that God was using to entertaining us. One lady was so taken with the girls' excitement she later came back to bring us a hermit crab her daughter found on the beach.

After a great morning in the sand, we headed to lunch to meet up with Gran and Meeps. With full bellies we headed back to the water and sand.

Of coarse we wrapped up the evening with a trip for what else...
ICE CREAM!!

Wednesday at the Beach!!

When we woke up to Wednesday it was still raining, BUT everyone was feeling GREAT!!
Mark called from his conference somewhat discouraged by the rain with a suggestion of adding one more day/night to our vacation. Who was I to argue with that?!
After us gals ate breakfast on the balcony watching it rain on the ocean we made our "extended stay" arrangements and we were set.

The sun made its way through the clouds and we headed to the stables. The girls LOVED it!
They even had a pet deer (they had rescued the year before) in the petting area.

After lunch we headed to Mackenzie's favorite place,
the playground at Harbor Town.

That evening we enjoyed a Harbor Town evening. A fantastic dinner, singing under the big tree, and of coarse a stop for ice cream!

This rainy day turned out to be a beautiful one packed with fun and laughter!!