Myrtle Beach

Dave's parents purchased a time share last year in Myrtle Beach. They were gracious enough to invite us to come and stay with them in their time share this past week, so that is what we did our family vacation this summer. This was our first time to Myrtle Beach and we absolutely loved it! The resort was very kid-friendly with lots of things to do and we loved being outside in the sun! We did lots of swimming....

and water slides (Lacey's first time)......

and playing in the "tree house park." Lacey even set up an imaginary ice cream stand inside and was "selling" ice cream to all the kids.

Lacey's favorite pool - "The one with the showers."

We cuddled with Nana.....

Roasted marshmallows at the campfire.....

And of course went to the Beach! Our resort was located right on the beach, so it was very convenient and we went nearly every day we were there.

Beach baby

But the best part by far was being with family. Lacey and Tanner LOVE being with their cousins, so to be with them 24/7 was heaven on earth for them! Here are the cousins at Broadway at the Beach showing off their animal balloons.

Lacey even entered a coloring contest.... and won!

On our last day, we decided to venture out and boarded the Sea Thunder, a boat that takes you out in hopes of dolphin sightings.

Lacey even got to drive the boat for a few minutes!

Hoping to see some dolphins.....

And we did! LOTS of them. It was so cool. We came across a large pod and to see a bunch of them all surface together was really cool. There was a mommy and her baby that was really sweet to see. I love dolphins and I love seeing animals in the wild in their natural habitat, so this was fantastic!

This was not so fantastic. After 9 hours of driving home, we came to a dead halt just 16 miles from our house. Apparently there was a horrible car accident and the blocked ALL lanes. Everyone just turned off their cars and wandered around. Here I am with T and Dave's dad. Never thought I'd be hugely pregnant holding a 2 year old wandering up and down the interstate, but alas, that is exactly what I did! There was no way he was going to stay in the car for the hour we were stuck there! But even with the traffic, we had a wonderful, memorable week with our family! Thank you Nana and Papa!

Heartbreak Hotel: Womancation 2010

Last year, Dave and I started a great little tradition where each of us gets to take a long weekend with friends while the other "holds down the fort" at home. This year, quite randomly, my friend Mindy (who lives in Seattle) and I decided to go to Tennessee. Why? Well, because Graceland was in our 1000 Places to See Before You Die book (even though, admittedly neither of us are crazed Elvis fans) and it fit the budget (well, and because this was something Dave was perfectly fine with me doing without him!) So, Tennessee it is! We arrived in Nashville on Friday, rented a car and headed downtown where we saw the famous Ryman Auditorium.

After walking up and down Broadway (known as "The District") and bopping into bar after bar with really good cover bands playing country music, we picked up a "map of the stars" and drove to all the country music stars homes. I know - shameless! Here I am in front of Dolly Parton's house.

We wrapped up the evening by going for dessert at the famous Loveless Cafe.

The next day, we hopped in Sally (our rental car, which you can see in this picture - a Kia with manual locks and windows - we do Tennessee in style!) and headed to Memphis. But.... since Memphis is in the southwest corner of Tennessee neighboring both Mississippi and Arkansas, which both happened to be on my list of the 10 states I have left to visit in this country, we drove right through Memphis and into Mississippi. And we had lunch at this fabulous little hole in the wall BBQ joint.

After lunch in Hernando, Mississippi, we headed to Arkansas. We visited West Memphis, Arkansas as well as the town of Marion, got a milkshake and then headed back to Memphis. So... now it's 42 down, 8 to go!

Here we are observing the famed Peabody Ducks at the beautiful Peabody Hotel. They have ducks in the fountain of their main lobby and every day at 5pm, they have this big ceremony where the ducks march around the fountain, down the red carpet and up to the Duck Palace.

What is the Duck Palace, you ask? Well, it is the roof top of the Peabody Hotel and you can follow the ducks march all the way from the fountain to the "Palace." Very cute.

Next stop: Sun Record Studios. This is where Elvis was "discovered" and recorded his first album at 18 years old.

By now, we were hungry, so we went to the best BBQ joint in town - the Rendezvous. I'm not usually a big rib eater - I can't remember the last time I've eaten them. But I wasn't about to go to, arguably the best place in the country to have ribs and not order them. So a rack of ribs it was! And it was delicious!

We couldn't let the opportunity pass us up. If we were going to stay in Memphis, we were going to stay at the Heartbreak Hotel! Check out the lobby.

Next day: Graceland.

Since I'm not a huge Elvis fan, I had relatively low expectations for Graceland. But I actually loved it. It was actually quite fascinating since the home is exactly how he left it, for the most part. Seeing the Jungle Room, his family room, living room, where he hung out with his friends and family, etc. It was all very cool and I learned a lot. Here I am in front of where he kept all his horses.

We even went inside his custom jet, the Lisa Marie.

And our final activity: a Riverboat cruise along the Mississippi River. Womancation 2010 was a success! We had a fabulous time! I was gone just long enough to feel like I "got away" but excited to come home and see my hubby and kids :)