Friday, August 19th
Early this morning, and I mean really early, my mom and sister and her two girls arrived. My mom flew in to North Carolina late last night, where Danna and her girls picked her up from the airport and drove immediately to our home to spend the next week with us here in Virginia. I didn't hear them come in, since I was fast asleep, but I happily woke up to them later in the morning, after they had had a few hours of sleep themselves. We took today really easy, considering they were pretty tired from their late night. We did a little shopping at The Lazy Daisy in the afternoon and then after dinner headed to Sugar Shack for donuts and Costco for a little more shopping.
At The Lazy Daisy, Piper kept hugging these funny animal head statues. It was too funny and too cute.
Today was a good, yummy day. We spent the morning at South of The James Market, a local farmers market. We had heard good things about it and wanted to check it out. Besides checking out the market itself, we really wanted to check out a specific vendor there, Salty's Ice Cream. A friend from our ward owns Salty's, making and selling his homemade ice cream. We thought, with family in town, it was a good time to go! We were not disappointed. It was a great market! I wish we had taken pictures of all the yummy food we ate, because that is what we mainly did...Ate yummy food! We had salted caramel ice cream, hot sourdough glazed donuts, goat cheese, sausage, yellow watermelon and canary melon. It was all amazing! I can't wait to go back! Later that night, after resting from our morning of yummy food, we left all the kids at home and headed out for a special dinner. We wanted to treat my mom and sister to dinner at Brickhouse Run, a local English pub. I am so glad we did. We all loved it, especially my mom. We will definitely have to go back next time she visits.
Spencer playing the fiddle with a local musician.
Sunday, August 21st
Church and naps were on the to-do list today! We did both! It was a very nice day.
Monday, August 22nd
We thought it would be fun to go Pocahontas' water park today. I am so glad we did, because it was a lot of fun! Everyone especially loved the slides. For dinner, since we were all wiped out, (and my mom really wanted to go there!) we went to Chick-fil-a.
Tuesday, August 23rd
Today was a quiet day. Well, for my family it was. I had quite a few things on my calendar that I couldn't move, so my family relaxed while I ran to meetings and appointments all day. Not my favorite thing to do while family is visiting, but sometimes it happens.
Wednesday, August 24th
Today was a day of shopping and good food, two of my favorite things, especially when with my mom and sister. We started at Value City Furniture, to check out Joanna Gaine's (from Fixer Upper) new furniture line, before heading to Hobby Lobby. We then had lunch at Cafe Rio, Danna's favorite. After lunch, we headed to the outdoor mall that's right next door. We finished our day later that night with a late-night trip to Country Style Donuts. (Yes, this was third time we had donuts this week. We were conducting a very scientific experiment. We needed to know who made the best donuts. Don't judge!)
Thursday, August 25th
After a great week in Virginia, today we headed to South Carolina to spend the rest of our time together. As soon as we got to Danna's in-law's house, the kids were in the pool. They swam, ate pizza and then swam again. They can't get enough of this pool!
Friday, August 26th
Today we headed to Charleston to spend the next couple days. One of the reasons we wanted to spend the rest of our time together in South Carolina was because we wanted to take my mom to Charleston, a city she has been wanting to visit since Danna met Josh. We started fairly early this morning, packing up and heading out on the road. It was just a couple hours and we were there. Once we got there, our first stop was Isle of Palms, a beautiful beach on the Atlantic Ocean. We had a quick picnic lunch on the beach and then spent the remainder of our afternoon enjoying the beach and swimming in the ocean. We all had a blast! When we were all worn out, we headed to our hotel to check-in, eat dinner and meet up with Josh, who couldn't come to the beach that day because he had to work. After dinner and catching up with Josh, we got a huge surprise. A knock was heard at our hotel door. I thought for sure we were going to be told off for being too loud, but no! It was Mark! He hadn't been able to take any time off of work to come to South Carolina with us and he hadn't planned on driving down after work today, because he had to be back at work Monday morning. It would have meant a lot of driving for such a short visit. Well, he was just missing us too much and decided the drive was worth it and completely surpised us. It was one of the best surprises of my life. My mom and sister were in on it. I'm amazed they were able to keep the secret. Now, I know we would have had fun in Charleston without him, but it was so, so much better with him!
Saturday, August 27th
Today was such a good day. Though this is only my second visit to Charleston, it has already won a place in my heart. It is such a great city to visit. We started early this morning. so we could have the entire day to explore the city. We fit a lot in! We took a carriage ride through Charleston, had a picnic lunch at Waterfront Park, shopped at Charleston City Market, ate ice cream at Ben & Jerry's, rode a trolley, ate dinner at Jim 'n Nicks, a local bbq joint, and finally finsished our day with warm pralines. I can't think of a better way to end such a great day!
Carriage ride through Charleston
Picnic lunch at Waterfront Park
Ice cream at Ben & Jerry's and warm pralines
Sunday, August 28th
After two busy days in Charleston, today was a much needed day of rest. We went to church in the morning and then Mark and Taylor headed home. Since Mark had to be back to work on Monday, and our only plans on Monday were to take my mom to the airport and head home, we thought it would be nice to send Taylor home with Mark, so she could keep him company. After they headed out, the rest of us had lunch and then relaxed and talked. It was a nice Sunday.
Monday, August 29th
Today was a day of sad goodbyes. I hate goodbyes. They are never fun. We said goodbye to my sister and her family first, and then drove to the airport where Spencer and I said goodbye to my mom. Then the two of us headed home. What a great trip we all had together though. It was a great couple of weeks. I can't wait to do it again!
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