Beach x2

Jonathan and I were lucky enough to get to spend Memorial Day weekend in Charleston with friends.  One of our parents (I honestly don't remember which one - I think his mom and stepdad) watched the kids while we took off for a few days.  It was Heather and Mike's 10th anniversary and they decided to spend it with friends in Charleston!  It was so, so, so good to see Heather again - we hadn't seen each other in about 9 months since they moved to Missouri.  She was my absolute closest friend in NC and it was so hard when she left.  Heather's brother and his girlfriend, along with two of their other couple friends, were all part of the fun.  We spent many hours on the beach talking, listening to music, and just enjoying a little kid-free time.  We were able to go out for late dinners and sleep in in the mornings.  I got some weird random eye thing (an allergic reaction to sunscreen I think) that ruined a couple hours of the trip, but otherwise it was perfect.  We stayed in Foley Beach, which we really liked.  Jonathan and I went to Charleston for a little while on Sunday, which was also fun to just go do something with no regard for nap times or kid menus.  

 reunited finally

 during a little Charleston day-outing

 out to dinner

right before we had to leave on Monday - so sad!

Honestly this year we thought we may not make it to the beach - but surprisingly another opportunity opened up that we jumped on.  Jonathan's brother Brandan was having his bachelor party in Carolina Beach and the only house the guys could find was a week-long rental one street over from the ocean.  Since none of the guys were going down until Wednesday, the four of us plus my mom headed to use the house from Sunday until Wednesday.  We had so much fun hanging out at the ocean, going to a fun local restaurant called Hang Ten, going down to the boardwalk, and introducing my mom to Trader Joe's.  It was a great mini-vacation, and was much appreciated by Brenna who had been itching to get to the beach!

 happy beach bum

 dinner date

 ready for dinner on our awesome porch that overlooked the ocean

 trying a Britt's Donut on the boardwalk

 love this picture

 dinner with my mom

 family photo at a cool little park near a dinner location one night

Brandan and Rachel Got Married

(AKA I have a new sister!)

 This big boy started out the trip facing forward for the first time.

 selfie on a lunch stop on our way to Richmond

 practicing - oh, and it paid off.  They walked down the aisle like pros.  (Granted, they didn't smile, they walked really slow, and Davin stopped to look at the people in each aisle.)  But, they shocked me totally and did it with no tears!  And they were relatively quiet on the front row with me through the ceremony (with the aid of gummy bears, I won't lie.)

 Davin and Morgan entertaining themselves during the rehearsal dinner.

 beautiful flower girl - I was so proud of her

 I am a lucky lady!

another just because

 mother of the groom and flower girl :)

stole these 2 from their photographer

 delirious

 siblings

 toast 

 ready for the send-off

 the only picture of just us was after everyone else had left - ha!

 totally exhausted on the way home