myrtle beach

We headed to Myrtle Beach on Wednesday for the youth world series baseball tournament.  

We didn't know how much free time we would have on this trip so once we got checked in we headed to dinner and to play putt putt before games started the next day.

We had a late afternoon game on Thursday so we got up early and enjoyed the pool/beach.

The lazy river wasn't very lazy.  It was quite fast actually!

We'll never complain about time on the beach.

Especially when there are treats involved!

We only had one game on Thursday and unfortunately we lost (but that would be our only loss for the tournament!).

I thought this was a fun beach themed baseball shirt.

We were done early enough to enjoy the evening so we took the kids go karting for the fist time.

PaPa and Chase drove down to watch the games so they enjoyed the fun too!

We had two games on Friday.  The day started sunny and then quickly turned rainy. 

The team waiting for their first game.

We had to sit out for a rain/lightening delay.  The boys were losing but the delay gave them time to regroup and come back for the win!

She's a good sport!

All smiles after two wins for the day!

The kids enjoyed going back to the hotel each night to unwind and have free time with the team off the field.  There are only a few softball sisters but they enjoy their time together.

Saturday we were back at the fields for a another game and another win!

The rest of the day was spent at the beach with the team!

We had two games on Sunday.  The coach doesn't like the kids to do anything strenuous before games so I went to the beach and everyone else went to breakfast and putt putt.  

Sunday was our last day of games and would determine the outcome of the tournament.  We met up with the team before the game to take some team pictures.  Unfortunately we were missing one teammate who had to go to Florida for games for another team he was on.  

Both games were nail biters, but the boys came out victorious and won the youth world series for their age group and bracket!!

What a fun experience it was!

We headed home this morning but not until Jason and Bryce checked off their last bucket list item for the trip.  

They took a helicopter ride over the beach!  

Bryce spotted four sharks while they were over the ocean.  

Emmy enjoyed searching for sharks teeth on the beach and was very successful.  She said they found 76 teeth!

anniversary trip

This year we celebrated 18 years of marriage!  We found a fun place to get away for a night to celebrate.  So fun that we told the kids they could tag along!  We had a quick breakfast at Chick Fil A, Emmy had a piano lesson and then we hit the road!

  

We made a stop on our way to our destination to kill some time before check in.  We found a state park with pedal boats. So fun!

We stayed in a teepee for a night!

Home - Sandy River Outdoor Adventures - Rice - VA

Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen?

A mini kitchen.

I'd say this bathroom is nicer than the kids bathroom at home!

Once we checked in we hit the pool and the kids enjoyed some of the other outdoor activities.  

The teepees were close to town, so we opted for dinner out rather than a true camping/glamping experience.  But we did do smores when we got back from dinner.

There were only 6 teepees on the property so it was very quaint!

So fun!

Today we had reservations for the ropes course.  Emmy was excited because she met the height/weight requirements for this one and they have lots of zip lines!

It was a fun overnight getaway that we would definitely do again!

my birthday week

I had fun celebrating my birthday on Wednesday.  Emmy was at the gym all morning so the boys took me to breakfast and then we spent the day poolside.

When Emmy was done at the gym and piano, she joined the birthday celebration for dinner.

After dinner Jason's family joined us for cake!

Thursday night we went to a local bbq joint and listened to a friend play/sing!

Emmy finished her Barnes and Noble summer reading sheet so we cashed in on her free book on Friday.

We ended the day with pizza at the pool!

I wrapped up my birthday celebrations tonight with some girlfriends from church.

a low key week

We have fallen into a routine in July.  Emmy has gymnastics three mornings a week so while she's there Bryce and I hang out at home and then hit the bowling alley before picking her up.  Emmy and I spend the evenings together since Bryce has baseball three evenings a week.

It was a bit cooler and less humid on Thursday so we went for a trail walk after gymnastics.

Emmy and I have been counting down the days until the Olympics (gymnastics specifically) so we were excited when it started.

We were out and about on Saturday morning so we decided to head to the city to check out the canal walk.  We've biked parts of it before, but there were parts to walk that we hadn't seen.  

Jason and I had a date night on Saturday night.  It's been a long time!  We enjoyed dinner on the rooftop, walked around the VCU campus and reminisced about our college days, and then got dessert before heading home. 

Our church is doing an "at the movies" sermon series so they rented out a cute little local theater to show the movie "Up"!  It was a fun time.

I'm looking forward to my birthday this week to wrap up July and then our August gets busy!