This has been a loooooong winter. Can I get an amen? Before winter began, Matt and I talked about Philippians 2:14 (Do everything without complaining or arguing). We challenged each other to take this verse to heart, since every year we complain about the winter weather. And we were doing really well... but then February came and the snow just never stopped. Surely God meant to say "Do everything without complaining, unless your winter is longer than you think it should be."
Matt and I had been feeling "blah" for a few weeks and had been praying about what to do about it. A few days later, Matt was talking to a close friend about how he was feeling and our friend told us to go to South Carolina and that he would pay for the entire trip. We felt like God had answered our prayer. So we planned our getaway in two days.
I wanted to document our trip so that I would remember, so I could show the kids, and for my family and some friends who were interested in knowing what we did. We left Tuesday and came back late on Sunday evening.
Tuesday:
Left our house at 8:30am. We ate breakfast in our sweet rental van and watched a movie. I got the kids several small toys and wrapped them so they could open them every 2 hours. This was a great idea in my head, but as we were driving I realized it wasn't such a great idea. Instead of hearing "Are we there yet?" 5000 times, it was "Can we open another present?" every 15 minutes! Now I know better for next time ;)
I checked out movies for the kids and magazines and books for myself at the library.
Warrick read his Lego magazine, we watched movies, ate snacks, and played games. The kids did so amazing for such a long time in the car!
After a 14 hour day, we arrived in Myrtle Beach around 10pm. Matt drove the entire way until the last hour when he wasn't feeling well... we aren't used to so many curvy roads!!!
Here's a picture of our condo.
Wednesday:
The kids woke up and were excited to not be in the car anymore! They were excited to jump on the beds and watch cable TV... it doesn't take much to make us happy :)
Checking out the view from the balcony. "That's a weird looking tree, mom." "It's a palm tree."
We've been living in the cold weather tooooooooo long. (p.s. there is a heavy-duty screen so the kids couldn't fall out).
It was cold and rainy so we tried to stay indoors... we drove by a Bass Pro Shop and Matt said the van made him pull into the parking lot. So we stopped in. The kids really enjoyed it... they loved the big fish tank, all the mounted animal heads on the walls, and Warrick even found a Duck Dynasty video game and enjoyed shooting ducks.
Then we went to the beach... it was still really cold, but it had stopped raining. And we were eager to see the beach.
Friday:
Went to Alligator Adventure. Warrick loved this place!!! We got to pet a turtle, a snake, and an alligator.
Saturday:
Went back to Alligator Adventure in the morning, ate lunch, then headed to the beach... it was finally warm!!!
In the evening, we went putt-putting.
Sunday:
On Sunday, we checked out of our condo at 7am and headed to Elevation Church in Charlotte NC. We really enjoyed our time there, the people were so friendly, and Holly spoke... it doesn't get better than that. But we missed Second Chance Church!!!
1pm on the road... the kids crashed quickly!
This was my view for the majority of the ride. I read a lot, played with Warrick, and talked to Tynnley and Paisley. Matt listened to 2 audio books and a few basketball game.
11:30pm Finally home!!! Matt was amazing... he drove the entire trip except for 1 hour, which was about 30ish hours to and from South Carolina. He was in the zone.
That's our vacation in a nutshell. Thanks to our awesome church family that didn't miss a beat while we are gone. You guys are awesome and we are blessed to be on this journey with you all!!!
