The Carolinas

This July we got to take a family vacation to North Carolina. Brian's sister, Dena, lives there with her husband, Stan, and their daughter, Hailey. Hailey spends part of the summer with the grandparents in Tennessee, so we drove Hailey back home after her visit.
We also headed further on to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This was a definite highlight of the trip. The kids had never seen the ocean until we went to California last spring, and now in a matter of four months, they've seen both the Pacific and the Atlantic! The whole week was a blast, and the kids did great with all the driving. Good times!

Went to The Giant Crab for seafood one night. The kids tried calamari, scallops and clams, in addition to shrimp and fish, which they've had before. And, in a moment of temporary insanity, I let them try crab, which they loved, so I spent a good portion of the night cracking crab legs to get out tiny bits of meat for my children to eat!!! Crazy!

Peyton with the ocean view from our condo in the background. 9th floor.

Our kids with their cousin, Hailey, on the beach one night.

There was a splash park associated with our condo, so we spent part of each day there, as well as the beach. Here is Peyton with Aunt Dena.

Hailey, Kellen & Owen in a train coming down the water slide.

Hailey, Peyton & Dawson on the lazy river.

This is how Team Church naps at the beach! ;-)

Hailey spent lots of time helping Dawson dig in the sand. She's a great cousin!

Playing in the sand was probably Dawson's favorite thing to do. Notice the fat lip? Face, meet concrete. Concrete, meet face. While hands were in pockets. Not pretty.

Wave jumping!

Family pic on our condo balcony

Stan, Dena and Hailey

The Cousins!

Kellen took this pic of B and I while we were eating on the patio at Margaritaville.

Hailey and Kellen with their balloon parrots that could attach to their shirts. The balloon man came around on stilts and was a hit with the kids.