Surfside

The Clark family switched things up this year...we took our annual beach trip to Surfside (we've gone to Hilton Head for as long as I've been part of the family). I love the beach in general and if you know me you know that I have a particular fondness for SC beaches...and as far as beaches go, it doesn't get much better than the southern part of the Grand Strand. The beach is wide, the sand is soft, you can find pretty seashells, the waves aren't too rough, the undertow (or is it undertoe?) isn't bad, and if you go at the right time it isn't too crowded. And dare I mention some of the best seafood on earth is right down the road in Murrells Inlet!

Since we don't have to plan our vacation around school schedules (yet) we headed down to Surfside the week of Memorial Day. The blog posts that went up last week were post-dated...sneaky, sneaky...since my blog is public I don't want to announce to the world when we'll be out of town! Anyway, it was a perfect week and I was not ready to come home!

My mother-in-law has bone cancer (actually it is breast cancer that has spread to her bones to be perfectly accurate) and she has had more bad weeks than good weeks since being diagnosed in late August...we were all very thankful that last week was an exceptionally good week for her. We all tried to make the week as relaxing as possible for her and I think it was a big success!



I have lots and lots of pictures to share and since most of them speak for themselves I'll get right to it...







I can't even believe I'm putting a picture of me in a bathing suit on here...as you'll see, the children are strategically placed. :)





Mason's wing-eating contest...


Roper's sand-eating contest...


Brian and Trish, or as Mason calls them "Uncle T. Brian and Aunt Trish." We're not sure where the T came from. Random.










Our house was within walking distance to the Surfside Pier...there were some really serious fisherman on that pier! We saw one reel in a shark that was as big as Mason! Check out this fisherman's shirt...we were clearly part of the latter group...











One morning we rented a pontoon to take out into Murrells Inlet...






The captain with his first & second mates...








Roper is so funny...he loves to pull his hat down as low as possible...




There's nothing like a boat ride to put a tired little boy to sleep...






Waiting on a big one...although he is "beached" in this picture, Mason spent countless hours riding waves on his boogie board...








A milestone...here is a picture of the boys' room...Mason slept on the top bunk and Roper on the bottom. Roper did not want to go back into his crib Saturday night! I think it is time to take his crib down...what a big boy all of a sudden!







The house we rented had a nice little pool...






Oh how I love the beach! I'm looking forward to going back as much as possible this summer!

John Deere

Riding the John Deere...in his John Deere t-shirt, nonetheless.

Two Days Old

Last week we visited the newest flock of baby chicks on the farm...these little sweeties were only two days old!







Ever concerned about the chicken feed...

Shirtless at the Skis

In looking through my pictures from visiting our good friends the Skis last weekend, I realized the Roper is shirtless in all pictures but one. Maybe he was trying to get Leah and Allyson's attention? The children had lots of water activities, so most of the time it was appropriate. :)
















(Note Dave running through the sprinkler with the baby)

The main purpose of our visit was to meet this sweet little lady.









It's so hard to know what to expect as far as children's behavior goes on trips like this...I think we were all pleasantly surprised at just how well all the children played together. Leah's really not trying to drown Roper...





Thanks to Roper for concealing his gut in this shot. :) You'll notice the picture isn't in focus...somehow my lens got switched to "manual focus" without me realizing it.



Mmmm...the guys spent all day Saturday smoking big hunks of meat. Oh yeah, we were also celebrating Dave's birthday. Old man.





Thanks to the Skis for a wonderful and relaxing weekend! We're looking forward to the next one!

Maiden Voyage

Well, the Clark family has a new addition...a new {used} boat. More of a replacement than an addition though. When we took our old boat in for the spring service we learned that it had a cracked engine block. Sad news, but the mechanic offered to buy it "as is" and we had planned to get a bigger boat before too long anyway. We took the deal and after a few weeks of scouring Craig's List and the Carolina Trader we found our dream deck boat.

Rob (my brother) and Kelli and Robert joined us for the first "spin" on the lake. The boys (big and small) had a blast.





A happy captain:



Graem bought his first boat at age 14. He sold it to help pay for my engagement ring, and shortly after we were married we bought our bowrider. As I type this I realize that for most of his life he has owned a boat.

What is it?

There's nothing quite like a live auction. I grew up going to horse auctions and always loved the excitement when my Daddy would bid on a horse and then {maybe} win it! We would always get to the sale early to check out all the horses and he would point out the good/bad qualities of each one, making notes in his program. I think in my mind the mark of the best horse was whichever one had the prettiest braided mane. :)

Last Saturday I went to a live auction estate sale in Aiken. Graem's Aunt Kathy told me about it...she really wanted this wingback chair covered in a red and white buffalo check fabric. What she didn't realize was that it was actually a pair of chairs. She couldn't be at the sale, so she was texting me about the chair(s) and asked me to bid for her on one...but she didn't want me to go over $150.

I ended up with the winning bid on one chair for $70 and they told me I could double the price for both chairs. So...I ended up getting both chairs for less than she wanted to spend on one!! I have to say it was quite a rush and made me want to give up my job as a real estate appraiser and become an antiques dealer!

I picked up a few things for myself as well...just little things. A few pieces of pottery, a cake stand, and a sweetgrass basket(?). Or a sweetgrass "something." I have no idea what the purpose of this thing is...but it's sweetgrass and I got it for ten bucks, so I love it anyway! Please leave a comment if you know what I'm supposed to use this for!





They had a lamp that I really wanted to bid on but I finally had to drag myself away from the place before they got to it. They only downside was all the JUNK they auctioned, with treasures mixed in. Roper was with me for the first couple of hours I was there before Graem came by to pick him up...he was a perfect angel...I think he was as entranced by the auction as I was!