Travel & Vacation
Travel & Vacation: Breakfast at Friendly’s
Breakfast at Friendly's after 18 Hours on the Road Our family recently went on a forty plus hour road trip together. After about 18 hours riding together in the van we decided it was time for a stop since the girls were awake and getting hungry. We noticed in Connecticut several Friendly’s restaurants and decided that would be a fun spot to eat. Jake had grown up in an area with a lot Friendly’s but the girls have never eaten at one so it was neat sharing the experience with the girls.
Brina ordered pancakes & ice cream! Brina was so excited that one of the menu items was ice cream and pancakes for breakfast! She got chocolate chip pancakes with watermelon ice cream. You can see Brina’s missing tooth in this picture, so proud of losing her first baby tooth!
Karlie proud of her breakfast! Karlie wanted to know why we had never eaten pancakes and ice cream for breakfast, it really is good MOM!? She ordered chocolate chip pancakes with mint chocolate chip ice cream on top.
The girls LOVED eating at Friendly’s. They thought it was awesome having chocolate chip pancakes with ice cream, silly straws that changed color when you drank out of them and fun activities to play. If you have a Friendly’s in your area or one where you are going on vacation you can sign up to recieve coupons from them including:
• Free 3-Scoop Sundae* just for enrolling 
• Birthday offers for you and your family • Information on special events • Announcements of new products and new menu items • Newsletters and more! Click here to find a location near you. Thank you Friendly’s for having a kid friendly restaurant for us to enjoy on our road trip!
“A Vacation To Remember” series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Family Recipe: Roasted Potatoes
We had the privilege of spending some time with Jake’s grandparents recently. One of the recipes Grandma made while we were in Vermont was Roasted Potatoes and it was delicious! You probably have the most if not all the ingredients already in your kitchen for this easy recipe. If you are looking for a way to use up some of those fresh garden potatoes you should try out this recipe.Roasted Potatoes:
- 1 pound small Potatoes (prefer red potatoes but any kind will work)
- 1/2 cup Butter (melted)
- 1 cup grated Cheese (Parmesan Cheese is what Grandma used when she made it)
Wash the potatoes and slice in half. Melt the butter and spread in the 9 x 13 baking dish. Sprinkle grated cheese over the melted butter. Put the potatoes open side down in the dish. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 350 to 375 degrees.
Photo by Sing A Melodie
Travel & Vacation: Downtown Charleston, South Carolina
Daddy's Girls! Brina and Karlie walking with Daddy in downtown Charleston. They love their Daddy and always are full of so many questions that he so patiently answers for them. Thankful they enjoy exploring with us!
Exploring the "Charleston City Market" We walked through the Charleston City Market during a recent trip to Charleston. The Market has a variety of different vendors including people hand making baskets, the girls found it very fascinating.
Brina taking a drink of the soda. Daddy bought us a Peach Soda to share, Brina thought it was yummy!
Karlie enjoying her drink! Karlie thought it was so funny that they made soda out of peaches!
Karlie and Brina running through the fountain. This was their first run through the fountain as they were running back to me they stated, that water is COLD! They eventually got soaked and had a blast even though the initial water was chilly.
Karlie in the middle of the fountain. Karlie was the first one of our girls to make it to the middle of the fountain. The water had some force behind it, most of the kids in the middle were older. She was thrilled to make it to the middle all by herself!
Brina made it to the middle too. Brina didn’t want to hang out in the middle of the fountain. She was excited to make it to the middle and just as excited to run out of the spray from the water.
Thankful for our opportunities to explore Charleston, SC this summer. The girls have been enjoying our time traveling together. It has been a fun summer full of new memories with the family.
“A Vacation To Remember” series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Book: “Half Broke Horses – A True-Life Novel” by Jeannette Walls
We listened to the audio book “Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel” by Jeannette Walls on a recent road trip with the family. It is a true story about a frontier family in the early 1900’s. The book follows the life of the matriarch, Lily, from her childhood until her children are grown. She was a gun toting, teacher of a one room school house, who helped her husband manage an active 180 square mile cattle ranch while raising two children. The story follows her as she and the country overcome hardship within an unending love of adventure and life.
Travel & Vacation: Isle of Palms Beach, South Carolina
On our recent trip to Charleston, South Carolina we had the opportunity to spend a long day at the Isle of Palms Beach. The beach was busier than Tybee Beach in Georgia but it was beautiful. It was a great day swimming and relaxing together.
Two chickies at the beach! Karlie and Brina ready to swim at Isle of Palms Beach near Charleston, SC.
Karlie and Daddy digging. Karlie and Daddy made a sand castle while Brina and Mommy picked up sea shells.
Brina's favorite sea shells, she said they look like colorful butterflies. We found a lot of these little clam shells on the beach. Even though they are fragile Brina still insisted on picking up as many as possible!
Brina found a shell! There were a lot of people on the beach that day but Brina still spotted a bunch of shells!
Daddy and the girls swimming....well really just everyone standing on Daddy. Brina thought it was hilarious that she could stand on Daddy’s knee and Karlie is trying to put her glasses back on, silly girls!
Here it comes! I think Daddy was the only one aware of the big wave about to get them!
Karlie and Mommy swimming Karlie wore her sunglasses the entire time we were in the ocean.
Pruned feet from swimming in the ocean too long! The girls thought it was hilarious seeing their hands and feet pruned after swimming in the ocean. We had been in for at least an hour maybe two so its going to happen eventually.
Cool shades Karlie cat. Karlie chilling for a few minutes after eating her snack.
Brina spent the entire time eating her snack watching the little puppy next to our tent. Entertained by the little dog next to us.
Brina catching seashells. Brina thought it was great sitting at the edge of the water waiting for wave and catching seashells.
Karlie on the run. Karlie had fun looking for treasures in the water, she is running to the shell bucket. The best find that day was 2 quarters.
After several hours in the sun at the beach we went back to the hotel and swam for another three hours. I am not sure how the girls did it but they slept well that night. It was a lot of fun to spend a day at the beach and pool with the family.
“A Vacation To Remember” series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Travel & Vacation: Fun in Charleston
On our family road trip to Charleston we got to discover neat places. Thanks to a friend, who gave us some information in advance, we had a blast exploring new kid playgrounds during our time away. It was a fun filled inexpensive mini vacation together.
Karlie climbing. The girls and I spent one morning at the Mt. Pleasant Palmetto Islands County Park. They loved it!
Brina on the tire swing. Brina loves spinning on this swing!
Karlie enjoying her time at the playground. It took a lot of work to climb up the jungle gym and go down this slide, Karlie is quite pleased with her accomplishment!
Brina loves this slide. Brina happy to finally go down the slide, several kids fell trying to get up the jungle gym to go down this slide.
Giggling as they look down on Mommy! Brina and Karlie loved being up high and thought it was hilarious how “tiny” Mommy was on the ground.
Brina determined to get find the diving stick. The girls swam for hours in the hotel pool. They had fun splashing, playing, relaxing and meeting new friends.
Karlie loved splashing around in the pool. We spent almost five hours in the pool that afternoon. The nice part about where the pool was located is that part of it was in the shade throughout the day so you didn’t have to be out in the intense heat all day swimming.
Daddy, Karlie and Brina ready for dinner at Red's We ate at a local seafood restaurant one night. The girls favorite part was that the kids meals were served on a frisbee so they were able to take it home with them, they thought it was so funny.
Crossing the Arthur Ravenel Bridge just after sun down to go into downtown Charleston. We gave the girls the option after dinner to go back to the hotel and swim or go to downtown Charleston and drive around. Much to our surprise they wanted to go explore downtown Charleston. They always enjoyed going over this bridge!
The girls wanted to know all the history behind the cannons. Daddy patiently answered many questions on the history behind Charleston and the surrounding area during our walk through the park and downtown.
The most bizarre thing we saw in Charleston. As we were walking through the part we saw a visible path of white feathers about 3 to 5 feet across from one tree to the next tree (about 30 to 40 feet away). The feathers had obviously been placed there for a reason, we believe there is some historical resemblance but not sure. Can anyone who has more knowledge on the history of Charleston give us an explanation? It was odd seeing a path of feathers between two huge trees and several cars as they were driving by honked as they passed that part of the park.
See the white line between the two trees? It is a wide path of white feathers. I am still a little perplexed by this one…..
Our family thoroughly enjoy Charleston the food, adventures, and time together was refreshing. I am thrilled the girls had fun exploring the town. I have a little bit more about our Charleston adventures coming up soon so stay tuned!
“A Vacation To Remember” series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Travel & Vacation: Road Trip to Charleston
We recently went on a road family road trip to Charleston, it technically was a work and family fun trip combined. I am thankful for a wonderful time together exploring Charleston. A lot of great memories were made that week!
Brina and Karlie in Charleston! This is the pier near the Waterfront Park, you can get a good view of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge from the pier.
Brina enjoying the slide! The girls loved the Waterfront Park, thanks Janet for telling us about this great park! The park is directly under the large Arthur Ravenel Bridge. It is great having the park under the bridge because the majority of it is shaded even during the hottest parts of the day.
Karlie fun at the Waterfront Park. Karlie climbing on the jungle gym at Waterfront Park. If you look above her head you can see the cement from the bridge above us. You can hear all the traffic going along the bridge as you are playing on the playground. It’s a great park and if you go they charge $0.50 per hour to park (they take cash, coins, credit / debit). I was never able to get the credit / debit to work so I would suggest making sure you have cash or coins prior to going to the park.
Brina spinning at the park. The girls do better at spinning then I do. They thought this was so much fun standing and twisting around!
Karlie doing her workbook at the hotel. Karlie and Brina thought it was great doing a few pages of their workbooks in the hotel. They did really well! Karlie made her own desk out of an end table and used the cooler for her chair, she was so proud of her “creative” desk.
Brina on the Waterfront slide. Back at Waterfront park for more fun. The girls loved the park so much they wanted to show Daddy so we got pizza, ate a picnic at the park and let the girls play so more.
Karlie on the slide. Karlie having a blast on the slide at the park.
Brina spinning. The girls thought these were awesome. No matter how you sat in these stools you would spin. I was surprised at how long they could spin, Mommy didn’t last nearly as long!
Karlie still dazed from a big spin. These seats were hilarious. Karlie lost a shoe on this spin!
Daddy and Brina on the double swing. They had double swings under awnings along the pier. It was beautiful and cool sitting together enjoying a swing!
Mommy and Karlie swinging on the other side! We had a blast in Charleston. The first day we spent exploring a little bit and enjoying some time playing at their beautiful park. Thankful for a great time with the family creating memories!
“A Vacation To Remember” series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Book: “Pirate Latitudes” by Michael Crichton
On our recent 40 plus hour road trip with the family listened to the audio book “Pirate Latitudes” by Michael Crichton. It is not my normal type of book but it did keep Jake and I engaged in the story during the wee hours of the morning on our trip. There are some parts of the book I would not recommend for the kids but for the most part it was fine. We listened to it while the girls were sleeping through the night or had their headphones on for their movie. The 17th century pirate story is based in Port Royal, Jamaica. It is a story of pirates in search for a treasure and the adventures that accompanied their journey. Like many of Crichton’s stories it is based on historical fiction which I feel adds to the depth of the book.
Summer Activities: The Children’s Museum of the Upstate
A few weeks ago we purchased a local Playcation Package which included four tickets to The Children’s Museum of the Upstate. Our family spent several hours one Saturday exploring our local Children’s Museum. We had a lot of fun learning, playing, building, and spending a relaxing Saturday together. If you have not been to the Greenville Children’s Museum you should check it out. It has a lot of neat activities for kids of all ages.
Karlie and Brina taking Daddy for a ride! After putting items in the recycling truck the girls and Daddy decided to drive the truck, so much fun!
Daddy explaining how glasses work. This was a neat room filled with light waves and all kinds of fun stuff to learn!
Brina and Karlie looking through the lenses! They had a variety of lenses of various colors and distances that you could look through. Very fascinating!
Love their facial expressions, the amazement of how everything works! Karlie and Brina working the color spectrum. They were thrilled at all the colors they were able to create.
Daddy, Karlie and Brina enjoying the giant "Light Brite"! Neat idea! I think we noticed several different creations during our time in the museum. This piece captured the attention of kids and adults! Daddy did an outline of Karlie while Brina made her own creation. It was a lot of fun!
Karlie creating her own stain glass master piece! I was surprised at how long she worked on making a pretty stain glass window. She actually got quite a big section finished.
Brina carrying a large load of bricks! Brina working hard making bricks! The girls loved filling the wheel barrow with bricks and putting them back on the belt.
My three construction workers. This one was harder then it looked. The girls had Daddy help on this activity.
Built a house. The girls thought this house was so funny because it had one wall!
The seat cushions quickly become a number rainbow, simply amazing to a six year old! They were quite proud of putting this together!
Daddy helping Brina put together a memory box. They had a workshop where you could sign up and build something. Today was working on a memory box.
Daddy helping Karlie build a memory box. I was originally helping Karlie but since Daddy and Brina finished first Daddy volunteered to help out.
Karlie and Brina looking down at Mommy from the top of the jungle gym. The girls had a lot of fun on the jungle gym in the middle of the Children’s Museum.
It was a great summer activity going with the family to the Children’s Museum. Thankful for the opportunity to spend a day together exploring. Thrilled that Greenville has such a wonderful place for families to go.
Book: “A Dog’s Life: Autobiography of a Stray” by Ann Martin
Since we have been traveling a good bit this summer we have been able to check out a few audiobooks for the family to listen to on the road trips. One of the recent audio books we listened to was “A Dog’s Life: Autobiography of a Stray” by Ann Martin. The book follows a young dog named, by her mother in the traditional way of naming a pup, after the most important things in her life. Her name is “Squirrel” and her brother’s name is “Bone”. It is full of touching stories as well as the adventures and perils of being a stray. The book is simple enough for children to follow yet engaging for the adults to enjoy as well.
