As predicted, the tropical storm rolled right on in the very next day. While the storm raged outside, and the camper did a bit of rocking, we debated whether we should wait it out or head home. The forecast was unpredictable, but things looked promising towards the end of the week and I’m a firm believer that rain at the beach is way better than rain at home. We ultimately decided to enjoy a few lazy days around camp and pray that the sunshine would reappear later in the week.
On that first rainy morning, I decided to take advantage of our lack of plans and get all of the laundry done. This was my second trip to the laundromat — why do we create so much dirty laundry during vacation?! I loaded up six loads (I know, I’m shaking my head, too) of clothes and towels, two crabby girls and their iPads, and a really good book. Josh woke up not feeling well that morning, so we left him to his on devices back at camp. Of course, the laundromat was packed, but the girls took advantage of the free Wi-Fi and I got a ton of reading done while we waited. It’s possible there were ice cream sandwiches, also.
My girls are pretty happy in all circumstances and the tropical storm did not get them down. They invited their cousin Molly over one afternoon and transformed our camper into a beachside snack shop. The flip up counter and sliding screen door made for a fabulous “drive thru window” and all of our dishes and food items were relocated to their “kitchen” in the bunkroom. This went on for hours and was, quite frankly, adorable.
Meanwhile, I was attempting to fold laundry and clean house, while Josh read in bed. Beach life is the best life!
The second day of torrential rain, Ella went on an adventure with my grandmother and another cousin. They had Greek food for lunch, put together a massive jigsaw puzzle, and hit up a used bookstore for all sorts of goodies. I went thrift shopping with my mom and no children, while Josh and Sophie had another quiet morning at home.
When it became clear the sun would not be arriving that day, we decided to meet Jennifer and her family at a new ice cream place in town. We are pretty faithful to our favorite ice cream shop while in town, but a new milkshake and cookie dough bar opened over the bridge and we decided to take a field trip. We heard rumors that earlier in the week, people were waiting in line for TWO HOURS FOR AN EIGHTEEN DOLLAR MILKSHAKE, so we were lucky to find ourselves waiting fifteen minutes in the rain.
These two cuties opted for a simple (and not eighteen dollar) chocolate shake, but their mamas lived it up. Jen got the Salted Caramel Cheesecake milkshake and I got the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough one. Y’all, these things were so delicious, but neither of us could come close to finishing them. And these were the smalls!
See my before and after? You got to keep the mason jars (hello, new camper toothbrush cup), so I stuck this guy in the freezer and worked on him for the rest of the week. I can’t decide if that is genius or disgusting.
The next morning, we were greeted to some much needed sunshine and a very promising forecast for our last three days. We still steered clear of the beach — there were intermittent showers most of the day — but we did get to venture outside for some afternoon bike riding.
While thrifting with my mom the day before, I ran in Walmart and grabbed a few new puzzles and games to leave in the camper. We had a few rainy day activities, but we learned this week that you can never have too many. The girls worked on this puzzle for a few hours every day until they finished and Sophie was livid when I took it apart to pack!
We had done a long bike ride with Josh earlier in the week and I had estimated it at about six miles. He thought we couldn’t possibly have ridden that far, but I felt sure it was comparable to my run earlier in the week. Gran really wanted to try a longer trail, so she joined me and Ella on a repeat journey. Guess how many miles it was?! 5.9.
Isn’t this beautiful? The trails go through the woods, all the way around Lake Shelby, and even almost out to the beach. They were still working on part of the expansion project while we were there, but we can’t wait to be able to bike over the highway to the beach pavilion and grab lunch at a few of our favorite places without getting in the car.
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Given that we stay at the beach a total of fourteen nights, we can’t exactly do an activity every single day. We do try to squeeze in the water park (a no go this year, thanks to the storms) and an evening mini golf adventure, though, and this year was quite the adventure.
Those two sweet faces bely the drama that was about to come and to protect the not-so innocent, I’ll just say that one of those two was a super sore loser and needed a major attitude adjustment by third hole. She’s never been beaten at anything (especially by her mama) and my stellar game did not go unnoticed. Also? I might have gloated just a tiny bit.
Basically it’s the mini golf game that should not be named, so when Jennifer’s husband Allen, asked the girls how it went over dinner the next night, he got quite the side-eye.
Join us for the Collaboreads Book Link Up tomorrow and I’ll be back with the final round of vacation recaps on Wednesday!
