South Carolina Trip '12

Be prepared. You are in for the long haul with this one...

The last time Josh was in SC was in October for a quick weekend trip to go to a SC football game and see his family. The last time we were both in SC was Christmas of 2010. Needless to say, a trip to South Carolina was long overdue. We had been planning on going for sometime, but hadn't narrowed down dates. We thought July, which moved to June, which moved to the end of May (to be there for Hannah and Chandler's high school graduation and Kendal receiving her endowments). We weren't sure if it was going to be possible though because of plane ticket prices. But Priceline pulled through once again and we got a steal on tickets just 10 days before we left! Thank heavens. 

We got into South Carolina on Wednesday (the 23rd) around midnight. We flew into Spartanburg, SC which is where Josh's grandma, Linda lives so she, very graciously, picked us up that night. We stayed at her house that night. The next morning we slept in and drove around her neighborhood on her golf cart while we waited for her to get back from visiting her husband at his nursing home.

[Driving around in the golf cart]

When she got back, we all paid him a quick visit and then hit the road for Columbia. Thursday night we went out to dinner with everyone at Mellow Mushroom.

Josh got to choose since his parents felt like he hadn't been celebrated for his graduation. It was delicious. Kendal and I shared a Caesar Salad pizza. Yum. It was so good just being with everyone and seeing everyone again. It had been toooo long. We went to bed early that night since the next day was a big one. 

On Friday morning at 8am (the same time I graduated!) Hannah and Chandler had their graduation. It was actually really short. A lot shorter than mine was and not too boring! Hooray. They may or may not have switched places at graduation which we all thought was hilarious. Of course we were the only ones that knew and I'm sure everyone around us was wondering why we were all laughing hysterically when they walked. But it was great! 

[Congrats Hannah and Chandler!]

[Kendal made this adorable graduation cake for Hannah, Chandler, Josh and me! It was delicious]

[But she may have used way too much blue food coloring that turned all our tongues and teeth blue!]

After graduation Hannah and Chandler chose to do their luncheon at Cracker Barrel. This time everyone was there. Us, Jenn, Jane, Hannah, Chandler, Kendal, Laurie, Bronson, Linda, Max and Gwen. (Morgan had to stay up in Baltimore selling so he didn't come. I have to admit, it wasn't the same without him and I know Josh would agree. He missed his brother a lot.)

[Cracker Barrel]

 After lunch we headed back to the house to get ready to leave for the beach. We were already packed and so was Jenn and Jane so the four of us hit the road a few hours before everyone else. 

We typically go to Myrtle Beach when we go to the beach in SC but this time we went to a small, secluded island called Fripp Island. Not many people have heard of it. It's near Hilton Head though, you may have heard of that place...

We got there and ate some food (leftovers from Cracker Barrel) and then drove around the island on the golf cart. It was such a cool island. It was covered in deer! They were everywhere. We hung out at the beach house and finally everyone arrived (Laurie, Bronson, Hannah and Chandler that is). Kendal, Matt, Max and Gwen would get there Saturday. We didn't do much Friday since they got in so late. We ate dinner and just hung out. But we planned a big day for Saturday. 

[Feeding the deer]

[Jane dragging some BBQ tools around the back deck. She did this for literally 20 minutes...]

[Cutest watermelon eater ever]

Saturday morning we woke up and headed straight to the beach. It was a BEAUTIFUL day. The weather was perfect and there was a slight breeze that kept it from getting too hot while laying in the sun. We all got a little burned (some more than others) but it was so nice out. Jane played in the sand and we all had a great time. 

[Jane driving the golf cart. Watch out Jenn!]

[Jane was pretty scared of the water]

[But she loved the sand]

[Putting up a little shade tent]

[Harry Potter much?]

[Sharing water with Jenn, so cute]

[Beautiful, right?]

After laying out for a while me, Josh, Hannah and Chandler decided to go out and swim. We were out having a great time jumping waves and being crazy and I started getting a migraine. Of course. So Bronson took me back to the beach house where I took some Tylenol and laid down and everyone stayed at the beach for another couple hours. Supposedly I didn't miss too much, but that could just be Josh saying that to make me feel better. Haha. Either way, it was dumb and frustrating. Saturday night Kendal, her fiancee Matt, Max and Gwen arrived. Then the house was full. It was great. We took a walk to the beach that night and watched the waves hit the rocks. The weather started taking a bit of a turn on Saturday as a tropical storm was rolling in. So it got pretty windy and the waves got pretty big. But it was so beautiful because the clouds hadn't come in yet so all the stars were out and it was just so peaceful. 

[Watching the waves crash against the rocks]

On Sunday we woke up and went to church that was like 35 minutes away. I have to admit, that is one thing that I love about being out west...living literally around the corner from our church building. 35 minutes?! That is crazy. But church was good. We spent the rest of Sunday at the beach mostly. It was really, really windy so it wasn't as enjoyable but we found this little beach that you had to cross water to get to and so it was really secluded and nice. We loved it. We laid out for a while until we found this cool pool thing. Since there was water separating this little beach it created a big pool. The water was really warm, there weren't any waves and it was deeper than the ocean! We played in there for a couple hours. It was super fun. Sunday night we all hung out and played games. 

Monday was our last full day. We drove to the next island over, Hunting Island, and saw the lighthouse there and walked the beaches a bit over there. Hunting Island is essentially a jungle. It was amazing. The beach was covered in trees. It was kind of surreal feeling/looking. 

[Jane yelling at the ocean]

[But happy at the same time]

[Josh and I on the beach of Hunting Island]

[Hunting Island]

[Everyone on top of the lighthouse...it was really windy]

[cute!]

[Don't ask why I'm making that face. I don't remember making it. But don't I look super pregnant??]

[Driving around the island]

[The view from the top of the lighthouse]

[Going down]

[Kendal being crazy!]

[Siblings! (minus Morgan)]

[The beach]

[Jenn and Jane! Adorable, as always!]

[Grandpa Max feeding Jane ice cream for the first time. She loved it]

We had a lot of fun driving around the island looking at houses and rocking out really loud to the Beach Boys. Perfect. After getting back from Hunting Island we ate lunch and headed to the beach. It was really windy again (but luckily wind was the worst of the storm) but we made the best of it. We laid of for quite a while and then swam for a bit. We didn't swim too long because the wind and waves made the water not as warm. But we swam in that pool again, which is always fun. 

[Kendal looking like a model]

[Josh starting his sand castle]

[Max, Gwen and Hannah on the beach]

[The castle almost finished]

[Goodbye beach! Until December...]

Monday night we had a little FHE where we talked all about the temple (since Kendal was going through the next day). We went around and told our first experiences. I enjoyed hearing everyone's first experiences, although I felt like a total loser because I was the only one that seemed to have a more difficult time with it all the first time...but that was my experience and I was just trying to be honest. And I tried to make it positive. I hope Kendal understood that, even if no one else did. After FHE we stayed up really late playing games. I love playing games with big groups of people. We played Masters of Commerce (a new game we bought), Scum and Oh Heck! It was great. 

Tuesday morning we got up, packed up, cleaned a tiny bit and hit the road back to Columbia. The trip at the beach went way too fast! Way, way too fast. But it was totally relaxing and exactly what we needed. We slept in everyday and spent tons of time just laying around on the beach. Perfect. 

Josh and I had been wanting to hit up all his favorite restaurants but had been at the beach the whole week so we may have eaten like disgusting people on Tuesday, but it was awesome. We got Rush's (a local burger place) right after getting in town. Had Chick-Fil-A before going to the temple, Rush's again after the temple and Waffle House at 1:30am before going to bed. Yeah, disgusting, I know. But kind of awesome...right? The best part of the night was being there with Kendal as she took her endowments out though. It was amazing to see that. She seemed to really enjoy it and it was fun to hear what questions she had afterwards. She is so amazing and I'm so excited for her! It was great being all together in the celestial room. I am SO, SO thankful for eternal families. I hurt for those people who don't have that knowledge. It would kill me to think that I couldn't be with Josh and this soon-to-be-born little girl for eternity. 

[Newly endowed Kendal! And me showing off my belly, haha]

[Bronson, Kendal, Matt and Laurie]

[Josh at Waffle House late Tuesday night]

[Yes!]

[Our food at Waffle House...so good]

Well, Wednesday morning we woke up, got ready, said our goodbyes to everyone and Bronson took us to Spartanburg to catch our flight home. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone but at least we know when we'll see them all this time. Just 3 short months! When we got the airport to check in we found out that there was a huge storm sitting right on top of the Dallas airport which was where we were supposed to catch our connecting flight into SLC. The lady basically said, "Your plane will leave at least 3 hours later from here and I can't say how long you'll be waiting for your next plane in Dallas. Just know, it's going to be a loooong day." Seriously. Ugh. Luckily Josh asked about other cities and she, very kindly, put us on another airline that made a connection in Atlanta instead. It was great because we got there sooner than we would have traveling through Dallas, but our second flight was four hours long and that was just WAY too long to sit for me. Since it was such a big plane I was able to get up and walk around and just stand but it was still pretty miserable. But! We made it home, safe and sound and that's really all that matters. 

Our trip was perfect. Of course it went way too fast but it was so relaxing and so fun. I'm so thankful for such great in-laws. I feel truly blessed to say that I honestly enjoy spending time with them. :) I know a lot of people can't say that! Can't wait to see everybody in a few months when baby girl arrives!