Litchfield 2015, Part 1

On Saturday, July 11th, we loaded up the van - every inch of it! - and made our annual trek to Litchfield Beach, SC for a week with my family. Because we are the only ones that live 10 hours away, we split the drive up into 2 days.

Picnic lunches at the GA welcome center, hot fudge sundaes at Ruby Tuesday, and nighttime snuggles with brother in the hotel make for a good day!

Day 1

Sunday, we arrived at the beach house (my dad's cousin's place that we've stayed at for years!) around lunch. Nate & Abby's favorite cousin Anderson arrived around the same time, and came armed with the largest.lollipops.ever!

 After all 12 of us arrived, we changed into our beach gear and headed to the ocean. Well, all except me. As you can see, I still have "clothes" on. I went down the beach with everyone, but only for about 30 minutes. Then it was off to the grocery store for me - with my Excel spreadsheets in hand - to buy a week's worth of groceries for all these crazy people!!

Nanny taking a snooze with Gibson, who is only 6 weeks old!

I've been replaced. Enter: my older sister Lora.

BFF's from Day 1.

Just a *wee* bit excited to be at the beach!

 My older sister, Lora, doesn't always get to come to the annual beach trip b/c of her crazy job. Well, b/c we went in July instead of June this year (thank to Gibson's birth!) she was able to come for the full week!!! We had to take her to our fave ice cream place, where not only Nate, but Abby & Anderson had their first bites of ice cream years ago! (Next year, it will be Gibson's first time having ice cream here!)

 Day 2

Monday started our rough. Both me & Becky had been complaining the night before that our throats hurt. Weird! I slept AWFUL that night - had aches and fever and night sweats and all-around discomfort. It felt like the flu, but yet, I still had my appetite. So, Greg made a drug-store run, and these 3 little guys were my best friends the rest of the week.

 Greg & Nate decided to go on an adventure that afternoon, and headed to the bike path nearby. They rode about 7 miles and got drenched by a crazy storm halfway through. At least they got cooled off :)

Such a good helper!

Playing walkie-talkies / hide-n-seek with Abby

 Every year at the beach, we take turns cooking dinner. I was in charge of Mexican night, so homemade beer-ritas were on the menu, duh! :)

.....and root beer floats :)

 Day 3

Yet another beach morning! Deciding who would "drive" the golf cart was always a major ordeal.

I love this beach! It's never crowded and makes us feel like we're
in our little world....

Tidal pool!

Best day of vacation for the kids - burying Daddy / Uncle Greg!

Nothing makes me happier than seeing my boy taking a break,
and reading a book!

Mom & Me

I love how she is palming Gibson's head! :)

Daddy's Girl

Hammock selfies

Teaching Anderson the art of "silly faces"

Elephant ride with Daddy

Poppy holding Gibson...a rare occurrence!

 Day 4

This girl could.not.get.enough of both of her cousins!!! She is a born Mommy, I swear.

The dress-up clothes in the closet used to be a favorite of my sisters,
and now my daughter loves them :)

Earning her keep

These two were inseparable all week!

I.Love.Her

Even Anderson did some boogie-boarding!

"Hey Abby, turn around so I can take picture!"
"Ok, Mommy!"
#diva

 Most days, everyone would head up to the beach house around 1 pm for lunch. Anderson would take a nap, and Nate & Abby would have rest time (translation: play Minecraft on their kindles & watch tv). One rare afternoon, Bec & I escaped to the beach alone for some sister time / reading time / beer time / quiet time. It was glorious.

 That night, we took a slew of pictures on the front porch/swing, before heading out to dinner.

I'm telling you....these two were BFF's.
I love how Abby grabbed her hand in one photo!
They look way more like mother/daughter than Abby and I do, ha!

 Our family only goes out to eat one night while we're at the beach, and we decided to try a new place in Murrell's Inlet this time: Wicked Tuna. I had heard the sushi was amazing, and it did not disappoint!

 After we eat in Murrell's Inlet, we always take a walk down the pier. Again, this is something Lora has never gotten to do, so it was extra exciting to finally have her there!

#truth