Our trip to Myrtle Beach

So a few weeks ago I asked Joe if he wanted to go camping at the beach for vacation. We've never taken a beach vacation before (I'm not counting Jamaica because those were all-inclusive resorts and it's just not the same). He said okay and we booked a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I hadn't been there since my senior beach trip in 1999 and he had never been before.

It's about 7 hours away so we left early last Monday, had breakfast at the Waffle House, and arrived around 5pm. We have a knack for picking places experiencing record highs and this was no exception. Check out the temperature in the picture below. Heat index was around 107. I'm really not made for that kind of weather but I did survive ;) We tried to stay indoors and off the beach during the afternoons.

We stayed at Lakewood Camping Resort and it is HUGE!! Actually it's a mega resort - there's like 1,900 sites including campsites and little houses. There was a couple of pools, lazy river, water slides, Trading Post (a snack bar, gift shop, and general store), and more. A lot of people rented golf carts to get around. The roads were busy!! 

We requested shade and stayed in Block 2. We just had to walk a little ways to the beach. 

This was our first view of the beach! 

We did some shopping in the afternoons. We walked around Broadway at the Beach (dang it was hot that day!). We didn't go to the Tanger Outlets or Barefoot Landing. I got this little retro tablecloth at Camping World (I just couldn't pass it up at $8!) Oh, and there was a scrapbook store in town!!! I haven't been to one in a long time, so it was nice to browse.

We went out to eat for breakfast at local pancake houses, then went to the beach in the mornings for 3-4 hours. We took our cooler, beach chairs, umbrella (super important for a fair skinned girl like me!), boogie boards, and a beach bag. I bought a super fun sandcastle mold at Walmart for 75 cents. Oh yeah!

From Mammy's Kitchen: YUM!!

My mom made this awesome camping sign for us!! She used her Cameo, paint, and a canvas. I love how it turned out. Silhouette America even reposted the picture on their Instagram. Pretty neat!

We had hoped to ride our bikes more often, but the sweltering heat made that difficult. On the last evening, we rode down to the end of the campground and took some pretty pics and walked in the water.

And all my freckles came out. I got a little sunburnt on my back and on the top of my head, but otherwise I'm good. I've been using a ton of aloe and trying not to scratch!

Where is your favorite beach?

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A little update

Hello! I've been MIA for a couple weeks but I hope to have some projects to show you soon. I have a LIST of things I want to do that includes:

1. playing with the FUSE tool
2. opening up those watercolors I bought a while back
3. watching a video and figuring out the PixScan tool from Silhouette
4. making something rad with my new MISTI tool
5. trying out the ombre ink pads from Hero Arts

Oh and guess what?? Mom and I are going to the first Silhouette Conference in November. It's near Atlanta, Georgia. There's going to be food, shopping, and classes - what more could you ask for? We hope to become Cameo Pros and try some new things. Are you going??

What new crafty things are on your To Do List?

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26 Books - May

Hello! I've been on a little break from crafting here lately... I'm trying to rest and recover from bronchitis. Ugh! But I did get some reading done in May and wanted to share my latest books with you. I read on a Kindle - do you prefer actual books or an electronic reading device? I really like actual books, but you can't beat being able to browse and download books immediately. I also like that buying books on my Kindle means I don't have to find a place on a bookshelf for the book.

 - A book you own but haven't read

2 - a book that was made into a movie

3 - a book you pick solely because of the cover

4 - a book your friend loves

5 - a book published this year

6 - a book by an author you've never read before

7 - a book by an author you love

8 - a book at the bottom of your "to be read" pile

9 - a book with a color in the title

10 - a book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit

11 - a book you started but never finished

12 - a book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe

13 - a book with a female heroine

14 - a book set in the summer

15 - a book of poems

16 - a book you learned about because of this challenge

17 - a book that will make you smarter

18 - a book with a blue cover

19 - a book you were supposed to read in school. But didn't.

20 - a book "Everyone" has read but you

21 - a book with a great first line

22 - a book with pictures

23 - a book from the library

24 - a book you loved... read it again!

25 - a book that is more than 10 years old

26 - a book based on a true story

Wally Lamb is one of my favorite authors, so We Are Water satisfies book #7 on my list. It's my favorite kind of book - it goes deep into character development with the main characters (a family with 3 adult children). There are some back stories complicated woven within the novel and I love reading about why a person acts the way they do. I really enjoy reading books where the characters are connected in unlikely ways. Two thumbs up!

I heard about The Paper Magician from a friend. When I saw it on Amazon Unlimited and realized I could read it for free, I downloaded it immediately. It's about a girl that begins an apprenticeship with a magician that uses paper - she becomes a Folder. It was a quick read and there are others in a series - I may read more. I'm using it for book #13 (a book with a female heroine).

I'm using We Are Called To Rise for book #16. It's another one of those books that has some crazy connections between characters. Each chapter is told from a different person's voice and that's one of my favorite writing styles as well. I read this one in a couple of days

Are you reading much this year?

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