Scheuer Beach Week

This post is WAY overdue, seeing as we went to the beach at the end of July!  We have had a lot going on, to say the least (more on that later!) but I have not completely given up on the blog.  

We spent a glorious week of vacation on the South Carolina coast with Nick's side of the family.  It has become an annual tradition that we look forward to every year.  We didn't have much of an agenda which I loved.  Most days were spent on the beach reading and swimming with an afternoon nap.  Our nights consisted of a delicious dinner and an evening spent watching the Olympics.  

                      

The forecast one day was for lots of rain so Nick and I decided to join his parents on a day trip to Charleston.  It is such a beautiful city and we had the best time exploring.  Wouldn't you love to live here?

We had a wonderful lunch at Husk- highly recommend it!

We are already looking forward to next year!

DD2tB

Let me explain that title- DD2tB.  It stands for Double Down to the Beach and it's the name of a LONG bike ride that Nick participated in a few weeks ago.  When I say long, I mean a 218 mile bike ride all in one day!  They rode from Greensboro to Myrtle Beach. Crazy!  He decided to sign up with our brother-in-law, Patrick, Pat's brother Ben and dad Steve.   After a couple months worth of training the day arrived.

They woke up around 4 am for breakfast and to gather their gear and then met at a local bike shop in Greensboro.  There were about 65 riders and they all departed around 5:30 am. 

Here they are before leaving.  You might be wondering about the Ireland jerseys.  The guys thought it would be cool to match and Tracy (Pat's mom) picked these up on clearance- ha!  Go Ireland!

So while guys rode to the beach the girls (Laurie, Tracey, Mari- Pat's sis and I) followed them along the way.  We would stop and wait for them to pass and cheer them on.  

Feeling great around 50 miles

We stopped in a tiny town for lunch and were able to see them around the 100 mile mark.  They were still going strong!

We had plenty of time on our hands as cars are much much faster than bikes, so we decided to stop and make some signs to encourage the guys a little bit.  I'm not sure why we decided the CVS parking lot was the best place to make them, but we spent a good amount of time there getting them just right.

Mari and Laurie

Laurie and I

Finally they made it to the state line, so we all stopped for pictures.

It was a long, long day but the guys did an amazing job and were so relived to finally finish!

I didn't get any pictures, but we spent the next day recovering on the beach and by the pool.  It was such a great weekend!  

New River Canoe Trip

A few weeks ago Nick and I were able to escape to the New River to camp with our friends.  Luke sent out an email asking if anyone was interested and it just so happened that most of us could make it just a couple weeks later.  We were so excited to spend time with friends we don't get to see very often.  The weather was beautiful, but a bit chilly for tubing which was our original plan.  So we decided to rent canoes and paddle down the river instead. 

We packed a lunch and headed out.  The river was fast moving thanks to all the rain we had recently.  Our picnic spot was right in the middle of the river- we tied up the canoes and climbed on some downed trees.  

We went with Luke and Taylor and Houston and Sara- such a fun group!

We split up the meals and had great food the whole weekend.  Here is Nick and I cooking breakfast- 

Such a nice way to spend the afternoon!

Building a fire- Charles joined us on Saturday night!

It was the ideal way to spend a Saturday in my opinion- canoeing on a beautiful river with great company! Let's do it again soon!

Five Years

On May 26th, Nick and I celebrated 5 years of marriage!  In some ways it seems like these five years have flown by and yet it seems like much longer.  It is hard to remember what life was like before! While our big five year anniversary trip was to Keswick, UK, we couldn't let the day pass with out a little celebrating.  We decided to head up to the High Country-  Boone, NC.  That is where we met/ fell in love/ got engaged/ got married after all!  It was so special to be back there and we had the best time hitting up all our favorite spots.  I was so sad when I pulled out the camera and realized that I forgot the memory card.  Oh well, iphone pics will have to do.  

We enjoyed a lunch date at Storie Street Grill in Blowing Rock which is where Nick took me on our first date.  We even sat at the same table where we had our first date!

Next we drove into Boone and hung out on King Street.  We grabbed dessert at Our Daily Bread and hit up Mast.  We even drove by the stone house where Nick lived and the yellow house where I lived.  Such fun memories!

We decided to camp along Wilson's Creek in Linville.  Since it is National Forest you can camp anywhere and we found the perfect drive up spot along the river.  We enjoyed the classiest camping meal I have ever had- steak, potatoes, veggies and wine! 

We woke up early on Sunday and Nick got in some fly fishing before we packed up camp.  After a quick stop for breakfast we headed to Banner Elk to try and see the place we got married.  Unfortunately its a gated community and no one was there to let us in on a Sunday morning.

From there we headed to a new state park- Elk Knob.  It just opened a few months ago and it was really well done.  The trail was so nice and it was a great hike with incredible views.

From there we grabbed lunch at one of our favorite places in Boone- Black Cat and had a picnic on campus at Jimmy Smith Park (lol Pat :).

On our way home we drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We stopped at our favorite overlook and took a little nap.  It doesn't get much better than this...

Kayaking at Falls Lake

A couple weekends ago Nick and I borrowed his parents kayak for a day.  We headed out to Falls Lake which is just a few minutes away.  The weather was beautiful and we spent the day paddling around, fishing (Nick) and reading (me).

our yummy picnic lunch

We are thankful to have this beautiful lake so close by!  

Strawberry Picking

A few weeks ago Nick and I headed out to Lyon Farms to pick strawberries.  The weather was perfect and the berries were at their peak!  I spent the afternoon making strawberry cupcakes, strawberry ice cream and strawberry scones (and then gave most of that away because we definitely don't need all that around!) I love that warmer weather brings such delicious fresh foods!

Camden Market

Ok, just one more post from our London trip and then I promise I'll move on.

On Friday while the girls where in school Nick, Cait and I went out to explore Little Venice and Camden Market.  We had never been to this area before and it was such a fun day.

I am sure there is more to do in Little Venice besides walk along the canals (which were lovely), but it was drizzling and so after a brief walk around we hopped on one of the boats for a ride.  We ended up in an area called Camden Market, which is one of the most eclectic and unique places I have been.  There was every kind of food you could imagine as well as an endless amount of shopping.  If you are wanting to see a different side of London, this is the place.  We enjoyed our morning strolling through the shops and eating delicious food.

After the market, we cut through Regents Park and the sun decided to come out for a bit!

From there we grabbed bikes (there are bikes all over the city that you can use for free up to an hour and can then drop off at another location- very cool!)  and rode through Hyde Park.   Cait left to pick up the girls and Nick and I strolled around Knightsbridge.  We stopped in Harrods and the Victoria and Alpert Museum and then made our way over to Westminster Abby for their evening song service.   There is a service every night I think and they are free.  It was an amazing experience to take part of a service in a church that was built almost 800 years ago.

THe V&A museum and blue skies!

Thanks for everything Cait and Josh.  We love you guys and can't wait to see you this summer!