All posts by Andi

Bloggings, Travel

A Weekend In Myrtle Beach

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Thursday

We woke up this morning around 5:30 to be at O’Hare for our 9 am flight. Everything went smoothly at the airport. We had breakfast at the Publican restaurant. It was pretty good, but pricey. The flight was good. It felt really short. Once we got to Myrtle Beach we took at cab to Dirty Don’s for lunch. The cab driver took us to one close to our hotel, but I had looked one up that was a 15 minute walk from our hotel. The whole time I was confused because I didn’t realize there were 2!

We had to kill like 3 hours before we could check in. Don found a place that looked like a ClimbZone, so we walked there with our luggage. It was about a 5 minute walk. It turned out to be a souvenir shop that if you bought something the kids could climb their climbing walls for free. When we first got there the guy working said they didn’t have enough workers to open the climb area, so we looked around. Then he asked if Lucas wanted to climb, and he did, so we bought a magnet. It was a unique place.

Afterwards it was about 2:30 so we decided to just walk over to the condo place we were staying and see if we could just chill in the lobby. We did for a bit then we asked if we could go in the pool if we were staying there and the woman said yes. So Lucas changed in the bathroom and he got in. There are 2 pools, a lazy river, and some hot tubs. Once Khris, Jess, and Hannalee showed up then it was almost 4. Jess and Hannalee got in and then once the place was ready I went up and changed into my bathing suit.

The pools were all pretty warm and the lazy river was so fast. At 5 we got out to get ready for dinner. We went to Calabash Seafood. It was a seafood buffet. It was pretty good. Lucas really enjoyed the frog legs. After dinner we looked at a shop then we came back to put the kids to bed. It was a bit of a challenge for Lucas to sleep because he has never shared a room with another kid. Once they were asleep, we went out on the balcony. We watched the moon rise, which is something I’ve never done. It was almost full and so red. It looked so cool.

Friday
The kids were up around 2:30 am. I don’t really know what was happening, but they went back to bed and woke up at 7. Khris made breakfast. Lucas lost a tooth after breakfast. Then we all went to the beach. Renting chairs and umbrellas for the day was $55! So expensive. The water was great, perfect temperature. We boogie boarded and we saw a lot of dolphins! Lucas was a bit scared of the waves, but we got him to go out. We saw dolphins swimming very close to where we were swimming, and they were just hanging out! We had lunch at the pool and then we spent until about 3:30 at the pool. Then we walked to the ferris wheel area. We looked at some shops. Lucas bought a portable fan because he was so hot. Then we ate dinner. Everything here has been fried and kind of tastes the same. After dinner we went to an arcade. Then we got ice cream and walked back. Again, after the kids were asleep, we went to the balcony and watched the moon rise.

Saturday

We slept in til 7:15. But the kids were up at 2 am again for some reason. Khris made breakfast and then we went to the beach. The waves were much bigger today, so the kids didn’t want to get in. They did play in the sand a lot though. Then we went to the pool again. We got lunch from the bar next door and ate at the pool. Later we went back to the beach because the tide had went out so the kids could get in easier. Lucas loved it.

After the beach we went to Captain Hook Mini Golf. It was fun but extremely hot! For dinner we went to Sea Captain’s House. It was the best meal yet. The kids shared a bowl of crab soup. Lucas had flounder and applesauce. I had a tuna salad. Don had spare rib. It was all good. Then we got some ice cream and came back to the house. We sat on the balcony after the kids went to bed and had one phone with the Cubs/Yankees game and a tablet with a ufc fight. Cubs won! We tried to watch the moon rise but it never came.

Bloggings, Travel

Cubs vs Giants in San Francisco

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This morning we had a bit of lazy morning, but we were still up around 6:30. Lucas and I went to the general store to get a couple of sandwiches. We all had to pack up to go back to San Francisco. While Don was packing, we went to the zipline and Lucas did that for a while. Papa, Gigi, Kelsey, Jared, and Adeline showed up.

Around 8:45 we set off in the cars. This time Gigi rode with us. The drive went well. We stopped in Dublin at a brewery for lunch. It was ok, I’m unable to remember the name right now. Lucas was into watching Canada in the world cup on TV. From here we were about an hour from San Francisco. We gassed up the car, unloaded our luggage at the Comfort Inn By the Bay again, and returned the cars. Don, Lucas, and I got the same room! 307.

We hung out. Lucas and I played chess and had a slice of pizza for a snack. Kelsey, Jared, my dad, Lucas and I were going to Oracle Park to see the cubs face the giants. Mom and Adeline were staying back at the hotel, and Don also stayed behind. He ended up checking out Chinatown.

Oracle Park was awesome. We sat in the 300-level, right behind home plate. So we had a great view and could see out to the water. Lucas and I walked the whole stadium to take pictures. The cubs actually pulled out a win. Micheal Busch hit a homerun into the bay. We were lucky to be in a pocket of cubs fans. It was fun to get loud with them and celebrate. We all brought our W Flags and we were pumped to fly them. After the game they had a fireworks show to celebrate Pride. The show was great. We didn’t get back to the hotel until almost 11pm. Lucas was exhausted.

Lucas had some memorable quotes at this game like “That’s rare.” He said it a few times whenever the Cubs did something good. Most notably Suzuki. “Suzuki had a rare double. That’s rare.” The Cubs have been in a bit of slump lately so he has probably heard me going off about them, but it was fun to have a win. During the 9th he said, “Let’s cook these babies!”.

Our last day in San Francisco Lucas slept until 7:30. Then we all went to Chestnut Diner. We went for a walk up Lombard Street to see the curvy road. It was a crazy walk. Then around 10:45am we headed to the airport with my parents. Kelsey, Jared, and Adeline stayed to explore Chinatown because their flight was much later. We all enjoyed SFO. It was a super nice airport.

Bloggings, Travel

Lazy Resort Day

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Last night there were high winds and storms in Chicago. We lost power overnight. Sofia checked on Cassandra twice. So far it looks like things are ok.

This morning we had a lazier start. We all did our own things. We went to Lucky Bucks Cafe for breakfast. Then we took some pictures at lookouts. Then we stopped at a general store/gas station for souvenirs. The gas station didn’t have power, so we went back to the resort. Lucas wanted to try out the zip lines here, so we did. I even did it. Lucas tried the climbing wall but it was too hard. I wanted to do a trail on the resort property, but it was so hot! So by 11 we were in the pool with papa and gigi. The big hot tub was drained for maintenance, and the smaller one was only warm. I wonder if this had to do with the power outages.

By noonish we were all at the pool. I got chicken fingers for Lucas from the tavern, and I had the poke bowl. Don went back to the general store. He got more beer. In the meantime, I had snuck some modelos down to the pool and filled cups. I had to be sneaky and had to use a bottle opener. We also got a beer from the pool bar. Then we signed up for the taco dinner they were going to have at the pool. We swam until about 4:45 then we went up to get ready for dinner. The taco dinner was pretty good, but the sun was so hot. After dinner Lucas and Don went to the game room. Mom and dad learned that a big tree limb was down in their yard and they had no power. Some bad storms went thru Paxton.

Bloggings, Travel

Yosemite Valley Floor Tour

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Today was the Yosemite Valley Floor Tram Tour. We had to be at the park by 9:30 to pick up tickets for our 10 am tour. Unfortunately, Kelsey had been feeling sick overnight so she could not come.

Parking had me a bit worried the past couple weeks because I heard how difficult parking had become. We were lucky yesterday so today we left even earlier. We left at 7 and got to Yosemite falls parking a bit before 8. We ate breakfast at Base Camp in the Yosemite Valley Lodge. It was just basic breakfast, but it was quick and easy and not too expensive. After breakfast we attempted to find the Cook Meadow Loop Trail but we couldn’t. Lucas had fun climbing on some rocks for a bit.

We had to get back to the lodge to start our tour. The tour was great. Our guide was a young woman from Springfield, IL! I highly recommend anyone coming to Yosemite to do the tour. It was nice to learn about the history and be driven around to see the park highlights. We got some great pictures. After the tour we checked out the gift shop. Then we had some lunch at base camp. I was impressed with the chicken teriyaki bowl. Lucas had chicken fingers that were good also. Jared decided it would be best to take Adeline back to the resort and my mom was tired, so she went back also. My dad, Don, Lucas, and I walked back to shuttle stop 6.

We found the Cook Meadow Loop Trail, but we decided to go over to a bridge that went over the Merced River. People were swimming and rafting. The water was freezing! I took off my shoes to feel it. Lucas and Don spent a lot of time in the water. Lucas was making stuff in the sand.

After a while it was time to head back. On our drive back to the resort, we made a stop to look at the dead looking trees at one of the lookouts. The trees looked like they had been burnt in a fire.

When we got back to the resort we went swimming. Then we had a combo of leftovers and things from the general store for dinner. After Lucas went to bed, I met Kelsey over at my mom and dad’s room to have a beer. After that it was about 9:30. I walked to the car to get something. The stars looked so pretty. I was a bit freaked out at every noise I heard since there’s a sign on the resort window that said more large animals have been spotted at the resort recently.

Bloggings, Travel

First Day At Yosemite

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Today we woke up around 5:45 and went to the general store at Rush Creek. We picked up a bunch of breakfast sandwiches and coffee. Then we hit the road to Yosemite. Rush creek is only a mile from the Big Flat Oak Entrance. It was about a 45 minute drive to the Lower Falls parking lot. The drive was beautiful. We found a really tight parking spot. There was a good amount of parking there when we got there around 8:30. The first thing we did was the Lower Yosemite Falls Trail and I’m glad we did. It was really cool and paved the whole way, so it’s easy if you need to take a stroller. Then we took the shuttle to Curry Village for food. We had the pizza and it was delicious, just like everyone was saying online. After that we took the shuttle to Mirror Lake. I thought the trail was paved but we got on the wrong one. It was slightly rugged, but we did it. My sister, Jared, and Adeline ended up going back to the resort. My dad took a fall and that was pretty scary, but he was ok. Lucas was so tired after the hike. We took the shuttle back to our car and we dropped mom and dad off at the resort. We picked up food for everyone at Lucky Buck Cafe. It was a small restaurant about 15 minutes from the resort. The food was pretty good and a lot cheaper than eating at the resort. After dinner we went to the pool for a bit. Then we went to bed.