We recently got back from the most glorious vacation, so I think it is only appropriate to create my monthly family favorites post around it! It has been a long time since we went on a real vacation, so this one week getaway was amazing! (the time off work wasn’t too bad either!) We went to South Carolina, staying in a house on Lake Murray. My in-laws, brother and sister-in-law and all the kids stayed there and it was so much fun. The house came with a boat and all the lake goodies you can imagine!
Lauren
Paddleboarding
I have never tried paddleboarding so I was so excited when I saw them at our house. My sister-in-law recently went on a trip where they paddleboarded every day and she told me how much fun it was so I had been wanting to try it. (she also gave me tips to help me keep my balance, since I was really shaky at first… I needed to stand closer to the front of the board!) I loved it, it was so nice to paddle along on the lake. Early morning was my favorite time to go, since the lake was so smooth and quiet. I would paddle out, just sit on the board and appreciate the view. It was so peaceful! If you follow me on Snapchat, then you know I had a goal to paddle out to an island. The day before we were set to leave I was brave enough to try it and I did it! Now I totally want my own paddleboard, but for some reason boarding around my lake doesn’t seem like it would be as much fun as it was at Lake Murray.
Donnie
Boating
My hubby loved the boat. (we all did) It was docked right in the backyard, so we could go for a ride whenever we felt like it. It was nice riding around on the lake and checking out the beautiful homes on the water. The lake was so big, we barely scratched the surface of exploring it. We went for an awesome ride with my father-in-law and no kids… just taking our time and enjoying the view.
Hudson
Tubing
My son would have been happy to spend every waking moment of this vacation tubing. Hudson and my younger nephew, Braxton, were so excited to go tubing each day, they even created a tubing chant and dance of sorts that they would recite during breakfast. All the kids were nervous at first, but after trying it out they quickly got brave and were always asking us to go faster! They loved jumping off the tube into the lake while it was moving, too.
Mila
Paddleboard Surfing
My brother-in-law came up with the idea to try to water ski, using the paddleboard. We had the rope for it, but the skis were kids-sized. It actually worked really well (except for when I tried it, I totally sucked and fell every time) My husband took my son on a ride and Mila quickly wanted to try as well. I have to say, this girl did everything the boys did and had no fear! She was so silly on that board, making faces and motioning for us to drive faster, that the first time she went on we were all laughing so hard that our stomachs hurt! My sister-in-law took a video and I am so glad since it is hilarious! She was begging to go again, so we took her back out the day before we left.
Bonus favorite:
My son really wanted me to bring charades since they played it at the end of the year party at his class and he loved it. I bought a kids charades (affiliate link) from Amazon and it was a huge HIT. We played it a bunch of times and it was so much fun. The kids were great and really creative with how they acted out their card. The adults had fun with it too and it was a good game that everyone could play.
Here’s a few more fun pictures from the trip, but now it is back to reality and hopefully back to blogging, too! I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!
My sweet girl enjoying the view on a boat ride.
Looks like an AWESOME adventure! We JUSt tried paddleboarding last weekend too at my brother’s lake house in Orlando. It was hard at first, and scary when we saw a gator, but such a good workout!
Looks like such a fun vacation! I’ve never been paddleboarding, but it looks like such a great way to get out onto the water. I think my oldest would love tubing too.
Wow, this looks like such a cool vacation! You had so many unique activities. What an adventurous family!
So fun!! Would love to try the paddle surfing!!!
Love charades. Looks like a lot of fun!
What a fantastic holiday that as all about being outdoors! So great getting the kids involved in such great activities. My kids love charades too! Such a great game for them to use their imagination and brains!