Myrtle Beach- September.

We decided to meet up with our friends, the Paytons, for a vacation over Labor Day Weekend.  We met in the middle of nowhere close to Darlington Speedway and spent the night in a hotel with adjoining rooms.  

 We didn't get there until close to 9:30, so it was a wonder the kids ever settled down.

 Staying in a hotel is a pretty big deal.

 The next morning, we packed up and set out for Myrtle Beach.  Nestled right in the middle of all the hoopla is small state park.  The grownups set up the tents and the kids got busy getting extremely filthy.  

 It was the perfect weekend.  We were less than a quarter mile from the beach and spent the whole day roasting in the sun or trying to stay cool in the shade when the sun was too much.

 It's so much fun with the Paytons now that everyone can entertain themselves.  We swam and hiked and had a great time.

 Believe it or not, we actually showered these kids twice a day.  It only took about 5 minutes for Jo to accumulate more filth.  

 One day we decided to go into town and see what all of the hoopla was about.  Myrtle Beach looks like it was all the rage about 25 years ago.  They even had a Friendly's.  We went all out and ordered meals with appetizers.

 AND ice cream sundaes.  There aren't may times I thought I might die from over indulgence, but this was one of them. We left the restaurant and I had to lay down int he grass outside to recover.  And I didn't even finish my meal or my ice cream. 

 I don't think any of the grownups finished their desserts.

So the kids took over.  It was too hard to even watch.  

Georgie's dance class- Late August.

I was feeling guilty that no one had a chance for special activities, so when we got settled in, I resolved to be a good om and sign everyone up for classes.

Georgie got to take a 4 and under dance class.  That's her walking the line.

She was clearly the youngest in her class, but she did a moderately good job in following along and not disrupting too much.

That's short stuff there in the middle.  How cute are all those little girls?

 

Again, that's her in the middle.  Georgie loved her classes, especially because she got to wear her pink dance dress and take her friend Callie (on the left) with us.

Half the class was ballet, and the second half was tap.  I never got a good shot of the tap class, because seeing the moms in the mirrors got pretty distracting.  

 For a short time in August we were doing a challenge where we cooked a meal from every country- in alphabetical order.  June helped out in making the Noni bread from Afghanistan.

 IT might have just been white bread, but at least she helped out and actually ate something I made!

Matching jammies!  DC was kind of a rough year because June and Georgie didn't really get along.  June had her ways and Georgie generally just got in the way, but since we've been back, they've really gotten along and have been playing nicely together.  I hope it lasts!

Settling in- August.

We spent most of August trying to get settled back into the house.

June and Henry were invited to a vacation bible school that was 80s themed.  June loved it.

We realized that being back in SC meant that Georgie had to be potty-trained for preschool.  And we only had 10 days to do it.  We also decided it was time for Georgie to give up her nuk. August was a big month for sweet Jo.

Luckily, we was a good sport about training, even if she wasn't that good at it. 

She must be the third kid if mama gave up and let her sit on a potty in the living room in front of the TV.

We also celebrated Georgie's 3rd birthday in August!  Look  at this big girl (with her 3 dollar bills from Grandma Seibert.)

And we had many tea parties at Georgie's new table.  Of course, the girls dressed for the occasion.  

Cousins from Ohio!- August 3-4.

No sooner than we pulled into the driveway did we meet our first guests!  Sadie and Dash drove down for the weekend to visit and help us unpack.

 We did manage to get some unpacking done, but we also spent a good amount of time having fun.  Like playing in the lake!  We forgot how hot and humid it is down here!

 Let's get these clothes off!

 That feels better.

 After a dip in the lake, which was especially green after a summer of abundant rain, these kids needed a bath.  We had to dig around to find the towels in all of the boxes.

But Jo and Dash didn't mind hanging out in the bathtub for a while.

Dasher really liked hearing Uncle Bran rock out on the guitar.

 It was great to have all of the Turner grandkids together again!

Back to school!- August.

The best part about coming back to SC?  School starts early! Mid August to be exact!

 Georgie had orientation at her preschool.  

She didn't need time to get used to school.  She was ready to go!  She's the third one in the family to go through EDS.

 Henry was also excited to start to start 3rd grade.

 But not as excited as June was to start kindergarten! 

If there was ever a kid to was meant to go to school- it is June.  Every day at school is the BEST DAY EVER! 

The only person who wasn't happy about the first day of school was poor Georgie.  Even now, she's mad on the days she doesn't get to go to school like Henry and June.

Tuesday was Brandon's first day of school.  

 June was still as excited on her second day.

Come on, Papa!  It's going to be great.

Finally, finally- Georgie got to have her first day.  Maybe you can see she was pretty happy.

We stopped and picked up Christopher.  When did the neighborhood babies get so big?

It's time for a new state!- July 31-August 2nd.

Our time in Maryland had come to an end, so we came back from our trip to the beach and packed up the apartment in two days.  Which is the best way to do it, in my opinion.  If you have two weeks, it will take two weeks.  If you have two days, you'll still get it done.  

 Papa drove our haul back home, but we did splurge to have a team pack the truck.  Best $200 we ever spent.

 We sent papa off and said one last goodbye to our apartment.

 We'll miss you Rockville!

 We pulled off the highway because we saw a sign for the the house Stonewall Jackson died in!  We stopped for lunch, but June spent most of the time throwing a major fit because I had the nerve to ask her to wash her hands after using the potty.  Meanest mom ever.

"I hate history!"

Luckily, the entire trip home wasn't a bust.  We stopped in North Carolina at our best friends' house!  

We were happy to have the Turner-Payton team back together again.  

 I made the kids stop at our old house in Winston.  June didn't remember it and Henry only remembers little things- like the pool down the street and the soccer field across the road.

Next up, we saw some friends from way back from our Madison days!The Pisapias now live in North Carolina and we're thrilled to have them within driving distance!

Finally, we made it back into Clemson.  We stopped the van and I told the kids to go see our old house.  But Henry yelled "We've been there before!  Let's go see John!"  And so everyone took off immediately to the Penna house.  It sure is good to be back!