Weekend Getaway

The last weekend in July we thought it would be fun to go see more of Texas. After work on Friday we got in our car and headed for Austin, about a 3 hour drive. By the time we got to the hotel, checked in and got ready to go see Austin it was getting dark.

First we went to the capital building

It was hot and humid out! I guess that's what happens when you go south. So we left to see what else Austin had to offer. We heard people talking about Amy's ice cream so we decided we better go try it. There was a line but it was good and helped to cool us down! It was one of those hole in the wall type places.

We talked with a family and they told us fun things to do in Austin. Too bad we were only staying the night. They suggested a club with a live band but too bad for us you have to be 21... next year I guess :)

The next day we continued to New Braunfels, a town with a really big water park called Schlitterbahn! 

We had heard from a few people that we needed to go there before we left Texas, and they were so right!

We went on a Saturday in July so of course it was super busy. We spent all day there, but really needed a second day.

We found somewhere to park, walked in and spent most of our time in the one side of the park. We didn't realize until later there was another part you take a bus to. The other side was the newly built part. If only we had know that from the beginning! It was still such a fun day even with all the long lines. I also could have gone without bumping heads with David on one of the rides (We were on a fast moving ride and let's just say my ear hurt the next couple of days.)

 

Our last day there we went to the River Walk in San Antonio. There were a lot of restraunts lining the river. I thought Austin was hot but let me tell you, it did NOT compare to this! Plus the sun was out which doesn't help.



I am so glad we were able to make this trip before we leave for school. It was a fun and relaxing weekend overall!

The Crazy Week at the Beach Concluded!

Be prepared for picture overload! The beach week was filled with relaxing, wave catching, eating, and just having fun surrounded by family!

Ocean Isle is a very nice beach town.

There was a wide range of beach houses available to stay at.

 

Ours was a nice two story yellow one.

It was soo nice to walk off the back porch and there is the beach! That is living the life of luxury.

The boys playing some football.

Not only was there a beach a couple feet away, but our own personal swimming pool! I could live here year round!

The house had plenty of big bedrooms, some with two queen beds, a few with king sized beds. It was nice that we were able to all stay in the same house, even if it meant you get woken up in the early hours by crying kids, or morning people getting their breakfast.

Mine and David's bedroom was a little well..... less than private. We were on the pull out bed in the sitting area upstairs, the first thing you see when you come up the stairs. This posed a little bit of a challenge when trying to decide how to create some privacy (We didn't exactly want everyone to see our morning hair, it can really be atrocious)  And personally I would like to make a decent first impression on David's extended family.



                                    

After planning and testing we came up with this fancy door.

It did the job! It took a little bit of innovation.

Definitely true!

The beach house even had an ELEVATOR! It was cool. Until we got inside. And had difficulties making it work. And then became claustrophobic..... It was nice for bring up luggage though.



Someones pet turtle.

The first Sunday we were there, David, me and his parents took a trip out to hick country. It was about an hour drive. His sister Elise got put into a new branch, so we wanted to go to support her. Driving there we ran into a little bit of a problem....

much of the road was covered in water. There was a place further down with two feet of water according to the guy we stopped. Since we were definitely not in a truck, we decided we better go around.

There was a swamp right off the road on both sides. 

Eventually we made it to church, a little later than planned. The branch had a lot of outspoken people, and it was really a great branch with very friendly people. It seems the people out here are used to the basics of life, their in the country and they like it that way!

After church, we were ready for a little adventure. 

We had heard from Elise that this is alligator country.



We were excited for some alligator wrestling just like Steve Irwin. At first, we did not see too much. There was miles of swamp so we knew we would be able to find something.

Then one after another, we started seeing some. It was so exciting! The only time I've seen this is in a zoo or reptile place, but with them in their natural habitat is a whole different story.

You had to be willing to get down and dirty if you wanted to wrestle these as you can see.

This one is sitting up on a log.

We also saw a lot of turtles sitting up on logs too.

This guy was really close. He was right along the grass, we probably got within 10 feet or less of him!

After we wrestled him, he swam away

Literally RIGHT across the road of this eerie swamp was a beautiful lake.

We made it out barely alive, and were able to play some games with the family. This one is called Headbands. You have to guess the card that is on your head by asking yes or no questions. Some were harder than others!

Sitting in the shade.

Everyday we would set up camp with umbrellas and beach chairs.

David's cousin Eliza had a very cute chubby little boy named Nathan.

David and his mom.

David's parents and sister Elise.

The Texas crew!
Uncle Dick brought flags to hang up each day for our home states.

In the midst of the week we celebrated Aunt Suzanne's "29" birthday!

Here is David catching some waves. The first couple days I had to really get used to being in the waves. David was really good about teaching me how to become a pro boogie board rider in no time.

Uncle Bill

Cousin Chris and his daughter Mary.

I love the big pelicans that effortless glided above you. 

Being at the beach can be exhausting.

Visors in every color possible at one of the beach shops.

Apparently my idea had already been invented. I was going to make a noodle lounge seat for the pool.

Thought this was funny because of the reallyyy outdated picture!

On our walk to the pier we found a dead jellyfish!

Some sand designs someone had obviously spent a lot of time on!

One of the nights for dinner we had shrimp and pina colada night. It was by far the best dinner of the week, and that's saying a lot!

We saw tons of these little sand sharks.

This was necessary to get all of the sand off your feet before going into the house.



Cousin Robin's daughter Michaela.

Some cute kids!

Uncle Bill's sailboat.

We got to go out, it was my first time sailing. It was a lot of fun!

On Wednesday, some of us ran in the family 5K! It was a lot of fun. His Aunt Kay had made numbers for us with our "sponsors"

Cooling off at the finish line.

Us after the race.

Someone was flying this around one of the days, it was fun watching it dive and do circles.

Just relaxing.

Mary Alice, Aunt Kay, and Aunt Merilee

 

Some more relaxing.

Uncle Gary and Aunt Suzanne

We played a lot of bocce ball in the sand. It got very competitive.

One evening while we were there we start hearing sirens and saw some police pass by our house. Then there were some ambulances. And then they just kept coming and coming, even ones from surrounding beaches. There had to be something big going on! We sat on the front porch trying to come up with what happened, maybe a double homicide, some guy threatening to jump off a building...
Turns out a deck collapsed at a house not too far from ours. Here is a news article about it: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/07/10/4156649/21-hurt-in-ocean-isle-beach-deck.html

Thursday night the second generation went out to dinner. It was a good chance to talk and get to know everyone!

Cousin Emily and her husband Darren.

The group of cousins!

The last day there the little kids did a treasure hunt. It was a really cute idea! Chris and Liz our cousins buried a treasure box full of prizes.

They had to get clues and dig to try and find it.

Some prizes included things like nail polish..

and bubbles. There was also bead necklaces, toy cars, suckers, pinwheels and other fun stuff! I wanted to find a treasure myself!

On the last day their Aunt Jane found a CRAZY looking creature that had washed up on shore. It was a little alien looking. With a little research we came to the conclusion it was a horseshoe crab.

It was really big as you can tell with claws on the underside and a tail.

I hadn't seen anything like it!

On Saturday, as we drove out we stopped in Calabash, NC. There we went to a giant souvenir shop that they go to almost every year.

Before you go in there is a game you have to stop and play called the ring master. It is really simple, you just get the ring attached to a string to go onto the hook. It took a lot of skill, but I got it.

Hermit crabs for sale with their own custom painted shells!

They had a ton of things made out of sea shells. Anything you could need. Want a jewelery box made out of seashells? They've got it. A towel holder with a seashell? Yup. A whole toilet made out of seashell? Well that would be fun, but maybe not that one.

Listening to the ocean.

My new friend the pirate!

Just some hippie in front of her hippie van.



Some Englander trying to make a phone call.

So cute we had to get a picture in it!

Our drive home was mostly uneventful, except this mattress in the middle of the highway?! Not where I would want to take a nap! And you know me, I take naps almost anywhere.

As soon as we left I wanted to go back! But, we got home Sunday only to turn around and go to work on Monday at 8. Well I guess that is reality! Until next time!