Spring Break

This Spring Break, we went away for vacation with our friends the Hills.  The Koehlers had already planned on going to Hawaii for Spring Break and we couldn't get them to give that up, so we went on without them. :) 

We rented a house in Myrtle Beach in Ocean Lakes that was a 5 bedroom/3 bathroom house. It was an awesome house. We piled the vans high with kids and stuff and headed to the beach!!

It had parking underneath the house and then Justin had a bedroom/bathroom to himself since he was the only boy( I know...I know....we tried to find a boy that could go, but were unable). Then all the girls were in the 4 bedrooms upstairs. Dana and I both had our own rooms that opened up to the balcony. Jennifer and Jordan had a room and Jaclyn, Jessica, and Katelyn ( Jackie's friend) had a bedroom with bunk beds. 


We brought lots of games and the kids and adults played games all week. We hung out at the place most of the time because there were so many fun things to do there. 

The weather wasn't the greatest. The first day was really nice and we all went to the beach for a little while and got some sun. Jennifer and Jordan got REALLY sunburned. They said they applied sunscreen but it didn't do much good. They weren't really able to go in the sun any more the rest of the week and we had to do aloe and lotion rubs on them for several days.  After that it turned cool and even rainy some days.

The kids all took their bikes and scooters and had fun riding around all week.  Justin enjoyed just getting away from it all on his bike and riding around all over the place.  Jessica brought her electric scooter which everyone enjoyed using.

We went out to dinner most of the week and enjoyed eating out at many different places.  Dana was on vacation and didn't want to cook, and I don't blame her so I enjoyed it as well.

Looking right from our balcony

Looking left from the balcony

Looking straight out toward the beach

 At Wonderworks.....

Experiencing hurricane winds

A ride where you pedal yourself around

and pull yourself up

bubble time....

Jessica on a bed of nails

Dana on the bed of nails

My self portrait... haha

Justin braved the bed of nails

Lazer tag was the funnest!

Driving a rocket ship

We had enough kids to play the piano really well

One day we took the kids to Wonder works and downtown Myrtle Beach and the boardwalk area. It was a really fun day for everyone.  We did some shopping and had a great time at Wonderworks.  When you go in, you walk through a tunnel that is turning round and round and it was hilarious to watch everyone try to walk through it.  In reality, the walk is not moving, but it appears that it is as the walls are moving around you.  I didn't get any pictures of this, but my kids and I did the ropes course at Wonderworks.  It is really pretty scary but fun at the same time.  Jennifer did awesome and Justin was really freaked out  and didn't want to walk anywhere. You are strapped in so you aren't going to fall to the floor but you could fall off the ropes very easily.  Jennifer didn't get to do as much as she wanted to since she had to stay with us and help her brother like a good sister.  Here are some pics of the course:

I will admit there were some really tough areas to navigate, and I understand why he was scared, but I don't think he would do that again anytime soon. :)

The place we stayed at was really nice and safe for the kids to run free. We rented golf carts like everyone else did and everyone actually cruises the strip in front of the beach each evening.  It was wild! It was fun to use the golf carts during the day but in the evening, everyone goes to cruise the strip in them. They decorate them and play loud music and interact with each other.  The older girls were too cool to ride with us, so they cruised the strip on foot while the younger kids bundled up in blankets and rode with us.

At the boardwalk

For some of the week, we had some other friends(mostly the Hill's friends) rent a house a few houses down from us.  Their daughter,  Hannah Leigh, hung out with Jennifer and Jordan and the younger daughter gave Jessica a friend to play with.  They had some boys too, but they really didn't ever do much together with Justin. We really just kept missing each other all week.

Later in the week, some other friends of ours (The Hoovers) came up and spent the day with us.  It was great to have them come spend some time with us and we were able to show them around. What a neat thing to be on vacation in another state at the beach with a bunch of your friends!

The older girls on our bikes

Jennifer, Jordan, Brittani Hoover, friend, friend, and Hannah Leigh

 It was a big deal all week with Jennifer and Jordan wanting to drive the golf carts. There is a STRICT rule that you have to be 16 and they weren't old enough. We followed the rules for the most part but did let them drive a little bit around the house while we were with them.  On the last morning, we were packing up and had to return both golf carts and drive a car to get back to the cottage so Dana drove her car and Jordan drove their cart by herself and Jennifer drove me to the rental place. They both did really well and enjoyed every second of it.

We stopped at Steve's parents house in Columbia on the way down there and on the way home and ate with them both times. They have a really nice house and was sweet enough to cook a great home cooked meal for all of us both ways. The food was great and the company and break in driving was even better.

Overall, we had a GREAT time with our friends this week! Thank you Lord for getting us there and back home safely and giving us great friends to share life with!