Life Lately....

 Here is a glimpse of a little of what we have been up to lately.

We celebrated a certain special person's 46th birthday... 

Sullivan attended the Taylor Swift movie with her friends...

Quinn has been attending a lot of football games with her friends...

And I think I finally found my 'sport'...

After not having a sporty bone in my body my whole life, I reluctantly tried axe throwing with some friends last weekend and wasn't half bad.  Not that the ability to throw axes will get me very far in life, but you know!!

Time is chugging right away.  Goodbye, October.  Hello, November. 

Senior Sunday...Number 9

Then

October 2015

Now

Cali-forn-i-a...

I'm late to post this amazing trip, but better late than never.  We traveled to California almost two weeks ago to spend the weekend with Scott and Abatha and to soak in a little bit of the beauty that California has to offer.  The particular region we were in, Pebble Beach/Carmel, was absolutely stunning.  

This beach above was a short walk from the house.  As you stood on the shore, you could hear seals and sea lions barking but couldn't initially figure out where it was coming from.  After a minute, you could see movement at the top of the rocks on the island on the right.  Turns out the island was littered with sea lions and seals.  Pretty cool to see!

While Abatha and I were checking out these beautiful beaches, Scott and Ryan played a round of golf. How gorgeous is that scenery?!

We had a delicious meal that evening....

The following day, Scott and Ryan played golf at Spanish Bay.  It is a beautiful course that has amazing views of the ocean.  

While they were golfing, Ab and I kept ourselves busy.  We visited Carmel-by-the-Sea, which is a charming little village that leads to the sea.  

Great views with an amazing friend...

We enjoyed a great brewery one evening, where the waiter used the obvious to distinguish which beer each of the guys ordered...

The papers said, "Man without hat" (Scott) and "Man with hat" (Ryan).

The following day we drove down to Big Sur, where we saw spectacular sights and enjoyed some hiking.  We all envisioned what our kids would be saying if they were on the hikes with us.  Likely it was something that didn't involve happy participation in the event!

One of our hikes lead us to a spot where the Big Sur River flowed into the ocean.  We had fun sinking our toes in the (COLD!!) water and walking in a spot where a river meets the ocean. 

We ended the trip back at Spanish Bay Golf Club, where we watched the bagpiper play and close down the course for the evening. It was a drizzly rain, and embodied exactly what you'd expect the weather to be when a bagpiper plays her bagpipes.  

Us ladies also enjoyed some great wine at the golf course.  Upon reading about the wine, it was described as having the aromas of bubble gum and cotton candy, with tastes of lime soda, lime pith, and wet stone.  

I couldn't quite put my finger on that subtle taste in the wine, but after having read about it, it was clearly wet stone all along.  How could I not have known that?!

We thorough enjoyed every minute of this trip - from golfing, to the scenery, to hiking, and more.  And we got to do it with some pretty amazing people.  We are always thankful for our friendship with Scott and Abatha and the sense of adventure and desire to see and travel the globe together!

The area was beyond words beautiful - something that would be pretty easy to get used to!  While the trip was short, the memories will last a lifetime.  It likely will not be the last we see of this region.

Senior Sunday, Part 8

 Then 

May 2016

Now

Animal Kingdom...

The last day was only a half day at Disney, as we had to fly home that day.  We made it to Animal Kingdom early in the morning.  

Expedition Everest rollercoaster was a thrill for Sullivan and Ryan.  Quinn gave it a try and disliked it, much like I did the day before with Slinky Dog Dash.  

Ryan and Sullivan rode it several times...

We also made way to Pandora to ride Flight of Passage.  

It surely didn't disappoint with the family.  I can appreciate the technology and the ride itself, but the height fearing, slightly motion sickness part of me struggled a tiny bit.  Just a little bit though, because I would ride it again.  

We had time to enjoy a quick snack....

We also took in The Lion King show, which never dissapoints...

Sadly, that is all we had time for at Animal Kingdom.  

While it is not the favorite park for any of us, we were happy to sneak in a small amount of time to do a few rides.  And with that, our Disney vacation came to an end.  We made it back to North Carolina where we almost needed a vacation from our vacation!  Disney never disappoints though.

 

Hollywood Studios...

This post is LONG overdue, but you know, life.  It sometimes gets in the way.  That and another vacation. But anyway...

Day 3 at Disney was spent at Hollywood Studios...

We walked over to Hollywood Studios because it was only a short jaunt from our hotel.  I will again put a plug in for The Yacht Club.  What a great location.  Perfect really, but I digress.  But because of that perfect location, we were the very first people at the check in terminal when the park opened.

And Sullivan was the VERY FIRST person of anyone to step foot inside Hollywood Studios that morning.  

At rope drop, we hustled our tails to ride Rise of the Resistance, Hollywood Studio's hot, must-do ride.  It was one that Ryan and Quinn did in Disneyland last summer and they were excited to do it again.  

After a fast walk to the ride, Quinn was the VERY FIRST person on the ride for the day.  Talk about winning at life!  

The ride proved to be pretty amazing but because of popularity, it was likely going to be the only time we rode it.  

But remember me saying we were winning at life?!  We actually were able to ride it a second time later in the day.  Score another win for us!

We also rode Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, which was pretty cool...

We spent a lot of time in Toy Story Land...

We rode Toy Story Mania several times, which is one of my all-time favorite rides...

We brushed elbows with Woody by accident...

We even rode Slinky Dog Dash, which we have never been able to before and comes with high recommendations....

Well, let's just say that it wasn't my favorite. My face might say it all in this picture... 

In fact, it wasn't even a like, or a neutral feeling.  As I said on the ride multiple times when asked if I was liking it.... "No Beuno!"  No good, bad, terrible.  Maybe 1 star out of 5 stars and that's generous.  Others in the family enjoyed it though and would recommend it to others.  Their opinions probably hold more weight than mine, as they are the rollercoaster finatics.  Me, not so much.

Quinn, Sullivan and Ryan also got to ride Rockin' Roller Coaster a few times as well, which they really enjoyed....

Hollywood Studios proved to be a great day from us, from start to finish.  It is in contention for one of my favorite parks at Disney!  One more park to go...stay tuned!