My final post about Myrtle

 My sister and I shared a lot of laughs during our travels.  When we left North Carolina we took a two lane road practically all the way to Myrtle.  We stopped along our route at a BBQ joint.  Kim and I laughed so hard because nothing says bbq joint like a fly strip on the wall. 

                                                           Nick being Nick. 

 Kim and Lauren.  There was a Waffle House right by our condo.  The Stille's are big fans of the Waffle House.  It was mine and Nick's first try and we enjoyed it! 

                                                         Again, Nick being Nick. 

 Here is our group in my favorite past time, sitting by the pool, talking and laughing with family. 

Aunt Karen and I attempting a selfie. 

 Towards the end of our trip I bought Nick new trunks and a swim shirt.  Even though it rained a lot, he was still getting a ton of sun. 

 I nick named Lauren, Harpy, during vacation.  Harpy is a collector of things and Lauren loves her things.  She is draped in all the junk she bought.  Trust me she would not like it that I called her stuff junk, but really the wooden snake around her neck tops the cake.  LOL. 

Me, Kim and our cousins.  We had such a good time and I really do hope we can go back next year, but just in case I hadn't mentioned it yet (ha)........If I go back next year I am NOT driving! 

The Sharkinator

Many months ago when our family was discussing what we would do for our family summer vacation, TN was our first choice. However, Nick mentioned that although he wanted to go back to TN, his dream was to deep sea fish.  When it became clear we would not be able to coordinate a time to go to TN and when the offer of going to Myrtle Beach came our way, I knew it would be an opportunity for Nick to deep sea fish.  I really have to give the credit to Uncle Kerry.  He scheduled the fishing and treated Nick to the fishing.  I will be forever grateful because Nick will never forget the day he went deep sea fishing and caught 7 sharks!!! 

 Nick went fishing with Kim (another Kim on the trip, not my sister), Matthew and Uncle Kerry. 

With two of the sharks he caught.  He was named The Sharkinator because he caught the most sharks that morning.  The sharks were filleted and I transported them home from South Carolina.  They are in my freezer, waiting to be grilled!  What a memory for Nick.

Laughter

We laughed a lot on our trip!  Kim, Aunt Karen and I sure know how to make each other laugh.  Laughing with your family is truly one of God's greatest gifts to us.  I wanted to blog about two really funny stories over vacation and both of them involve Karen.  My aunt is sure funny!  She was telling us that traveling with my Uncle Kerry is like childbirth.  It's very painful while you're going through it, but then after it's done, it's like you forget about all the pain in getting to the end result and you choose to do it again.  Then I was telling Karen that Jay would be detasseling in July as his summer job.  Her eyes got really big and she said detasseling was horrible, that it was worse than being a P.O.W.!  Kim and I laughed and laughed over that.  I told Karen I'd keep that little bit of information to myself.  We laughed over Nick's nick name, The Sharkinator.  We laughed about Uncle Kerry being "the child whisperer."  We laughed over stories about our kids and we laughed at each other.  Laughter is truly the best medicine!

The Kiddo's

Here's Nick with the twins.  I got such a laugh out of these boys.  What was also amusing to me was Nick and the twin to the far right looked more than twins than the actual twins did!  Nick and Frank hung out together a lot during the vacation.  The picture below is of Nick and Frank swimming.  Sometimes I could hardly tell them apart with their blond buzz cuts! 

Here they are in a hurricane simulator! 

See what I mean.......twins! 

 These two sweet girls was just all around sweet!  They hung out together a lot during our vaca. 

 I included this picture because it was hilarious!  You have to know the story behind the picture.  One afternoon we went go carting (because it was raining!).  Kerry volunteered to take all the kids in his suburban and we adults went with Ray in his mini van.  We were laughing the whole time knowing Kerry was stuck with the kids and we could almost hear Joel's cackle laugh!  Joel had a great laugh.  It was one of those laughs that only a full of it 11 year old boy would have!  As Kerry got all the kids out of the car he lined them up in the parking lot so he could get them safely across the lot!  I lovingly named him the child whisperer! 

 Nick and his ladies.  This is one of those times he was being very sweet!  Again, he was always nice to Jayde and he was nice to Lauren 85% of the trip.  In the car he was nice to Lauren 0% of the time!  But somehow we survived. 

 Kim and I took Lauren and Nick out one night to dig for crabs.  We were unsuccessful that night, but the kids didn't care.  They loved being out on the beach at night.  This picture of Lauren cracks me up because she looks like she's seen an alien. 

 Cousins playing together!  Nick and Lauren played together in the pool and also played a lot of ping pong. 

 This is Nick humoring me and Lauren.  Here's the proof that he did have it in him to humor us.  This was a picture we took while we were shopping because yep, it was raining so we decided to take the kids shopping! 

Nick and Jayde before dinner one night!  Another sweet picture.  To sum up the kids this vacation, they were really fun and enjoyable.  There were a few hurdles with Nick but they were mostly contained to the car, and it isn't a vacation for me unless I have a few hurdles with my kids.  This vacation I only had one child to contend with, but no Mike, but in the end, it all turned out well.  I should mention (in case I'm reading this in the home one day and wonder why Jay and Mike didn't go) that Mike didn't go because he's not a beach vacation guy and his business is really busy right now and Jay didn't go because he was going to a Christ In Youth event in Michigan.  Mike was alone in the house for an entire week.  He was afraid he might be lonely but I must admit that when I got home he seemed a little put off by having all of us back.  When I reminded him that before we all left he was afraid he might get lonely he told me (and I quote)....."Well I was wrong, Amy!"  LOL.  Needless to say everyone in my house had a really nice week.  I firmly believe that for our family it's very healthy to break away from each other every now and then.  We all need our space! 

Ocean Pics

 This was Nick's first time experiencing the ocean.  He loved it and if I let him, he would have spent all day every day playing in the ocean.  The only problem was when he was in the ocean, I was in the ocean.  I might have been a little over the top but it was his first time in the ocean and yes, even though he's 11, I still didn't take my eyes off of him for a second.  There were many times I was close by because he would ride the waves and get a wee bit too far out and I'd call for him to come in closer.  Nick bought a boogie board and rode the waves.  By the end of the week he had used his board so much, it was broke.  In fact it broke the second day, but Nick didn't let that stop him.  The salt water and sand didn't agree with Nick's skin and every night he'd have some kind of rash.  By morning it was usually cleared up and he would be ready to ride the waves again.  Sadly the thunderstorms kept us out of the ocean much of the time.  I remember one afternoon it simply rained (so you could still get in the water).  I stood out in the ocean with my suit and cover up on and got soaked while Nick rode the waves.  A mother's love knows has no bounds - ha! 

 Nick and I did a good job at compromising.  It was obvious his favorite activity was the ocean, but as I mentioned every time we went to the ocean it meant no relaxing for me.  We would go the ocean for a few hours and then head back to the pool so I could relax.  The picture above is of Kim getting in the water with Nick that first night.  Lauren wasn't as fond of the water as Nick.  She mostly liked playing in the sand. 

 Just us girls.  Notice there is no sun in this picture.  Ha!  I loved spending the week with Kim and Lauren.  I enjoy spending time with my sister and I got to know Lauren better this week.  She is the sweetest, easy to please, little girl.  She was good to Nick at times when he wasn't so good to her.  The car ride down to Myrtle was BRUTAL, and the ride home wasn't quite as bad but Nick was still meaner than a snake and he saved most of his venom for Lauren.  I told her I owe her a pedicure for putting up with Nick's snarkiness!

 On our last day my cousin, Kelly, persuaded me to ride a banana boat.  I wasn't overly thrilled about it but agreed to it.  The picture below is of me after the ride, and although I'm giving a thumbs up, it was really a thumbs down for me.  That ride scared me to death!  And my unfortunate ankle injury kept playing in my mind as I was on the ride.  Ray and I did konk heads but that was the extent of any injury on the ride - thank goodness! 

 I love this picture.  Nick and I truly had a good time together (once we got out of the car!).  I think it was nice for Nick, as the little brother, to just have me.  He didn't have to compete with Jay for anything and it wasn't that I didn't miss Mike, but it was validating to know I could travel across the country with my son and enjoy a vacation with him and get us both home in one piece.  Ha!  We have put off getting a cell phone for Nick and this vacation it was clear to me I am doing the right thing by that.  He had no distractions on this trip.  He was just a boy in love with the ocean! 

 Nick was so sweet to Jayde and Lauren (again....he was sweet 85% of the time to Lauren too once we were out of the car).  The picture above and below is of Nick playing with Jayde in the ocean.  Jayde adored the ocean.  She's 5 and she is fearless!  She even took a banana ride!

 The little kids (above) and the big kids (below).  Ha!  What a crew we had in Myrtle.  Nick was in heaven because the two boys (twins) turned 11 on April 28, so they were only 2 days older than him.  The perfect fit for Nick!  Jayde and Lauren played together a lot so again, it was just a perfect mix! 

Kim and I like to joke that we did not get the thin genes from this side of the family!  I mean really!  My cousin, Michelle (far right) is pregnant and when Kim first saw her in her two piece, Kim says (and Kim doesn't have an inside voice), "Gee Michelle, do you even have a baby in there?"  LOL.  We shared so many laughs this past week.  It was so nice to reconnect with my cousins and get to know Michelle's husband, Matthew, better and also get to know their sweet Jayde.  What a memory filled week. 

Myrtle Beach

 Last week my sister and I took Lauren and Nick and headed out to Myrtle Beach to spend a week with Aunt Karen, Uncle Kerry, my cousins, friends and other family.  We had an absolute wonderful time.  I'll blog over the next week about what we did.  I took a ton of pictures.  My favorite part of the entire trip was sitting around the pool and talking with my family  I loved every minute of it.  Nick and Lauren loved it too.  Nick got to deep sea fish (more on that later).  The only two things that were kind of a bummer was the drive (I am NEVER making that drive again) and the weather.  The picture above was our only sunny day.  The rest of the week it was cloudy and it rained.

I love this picture!  We sure had a nice time with Aunt Karen, Uncle Kerry, Michelle and Kelly! 

So far, so good

 Our summer is off to a good start.  As I mentioned in my previous blog Nick is involved in just enough activities that he isn't bored, or driving me crazy.  Jay is playing basketball every Thursday night in June and he's also been tagging along with Mike to some of his jobs.  Jay will detassel in July, and that will consume most of his time/days.  Jay has pretty much decided that for the remainder of his high school career his focus will be on basketball.  He's giving up football.  I didn't argue with him this year since he sustained that nasty concussion last season.  Plus Jay's heart isn't in football, which is kind of sad because he's an awesome wide receiver, but since football isn't his first love, if he has any love for it at all, and given the fact he'll be 16 soon and will probably look for a part time job, I was fine with him not playing football. 

 This picture is bad but Jay is the one handling the ball.  He's taking private basketball lessons right now and those seem to have helped him improve. 

 Nick and his friend, B. went to an overnight church camp this week.  This was the first camp of many more to come this summer for Nick. 

 I took the boys and we visited Grandpa Brad.  It was so sunny out it was hard to see, hence why I kind of cut off Jay's head in the picture - that and he's getting so tall! 

 Yesterday my mom invited the entire Schmidt family over.  It was the first time we were all together since Grandma's funeral.  Not everyone could join us this go around, but it was sure nice to be around our family and enjoy the company. 

 Craig got a motorcycle.  This is Craig and Kim with their cute helmets on, getting ready to take a spin.

 I love Lauren.  Mike was laying like this and she came right up and hugged him.  Mike is basically humoring her, and the hug didn't last long - just long enough for me to snap a picture. 

 My mom kills me in these sunglasses with her hat.  Let's just say it's a great conversation piece with big personality! 

As I write this blog, it's Sunday morning, and we are skipping church.  I hate skipping church, but we are all spent.  The boys are still sound asleep, and although Mike and I are up, he's asleep on the couch.  We both had a terribly busy week, and I'm enjoying the quiet of my house this morning.  The picture above is of Betsy, Laura and I and two of Betsy's friends.  Me, Betsy, Laura and Jenny put our money together and purchased a huge float this summer.  The 5 of us took our float our on its maiden voyage last evening.  What did we learn?  We learned we must have an anchor in the future.  The 5 of us girls ended up having to jump in the lake and swim with our float back to Betsy's dock.  That's another reason I'm doing as little as possible this morning!  Ha.  It was good exercise for me though and the water felt great! 

Nick's friend summer

I was very calculated and intentional with the plans I made for Nick this summer.  In fact once I had all of his plans in place for the entire summer when I took a step back and looked at the calendar I almost gasped as the number of activities I had signed him up for.  That is just like me.  I go from one extreme to another.  Last summer was really bad.  We were adjusting to Mike's new business (which also meant adjusting to a new financial situation) and then I went and broke my ankle.  I didn't sign the boys up for really anything last summer - BIG MISTAKE!  I can still hear Nick saying, "I'm so bored, this summer is so lame" in my head.  In all honesty, it was boring and yes, lame, but hey, I figured I was letting both boys know early on that life is sometimes boring and lame!  Mission accomplished.  So this summer I went a little extreme the other way, however, I think by the end of the summer I will be pleased with how everything played out.  Last week Nick attended a basketball camp at the high school with his friend, Easton.  Easton and Nick also went to play flag football at church last week.  Tomorrow Nick leaves for church camp with his friend, Brandon.  This weekend Nick starts a bible study with his friend, Jacob, and a few other friends from school.  He's taking a rock climbing class with Lauren in July.  He's participating in another mini basketball camp with his friend, Alex.  He's taking a STEM class at our community college with his best buddy, Noah and finally he's ending the month of July at a gun camp with his friend, Brantson.  Oh yeah, he's also making a welding project for the 4h fair in early August and he's finishing up the summer with a week long church camp, and no friend is going with him.  After that camp he'll head right into Cross Country practice and school.  Whew, I got tired just writing all that.  Truly though I am so thankful.  I'm thankful that Nick has a variety of different friends (I think he gets that from his nana) and I'm thankful we are able to send him to all the camps.  Most of all I'm thankful for the sanity it will provide me with!  I'm just saying............

Bake, Hug, Show up, Repeat

I'm very blessed to be surrounded by a circle of girlfriends who are beyond wise.  This weekend I spent some time with my friend, Sarah.  Sarah is the mom of three boys.  They are all three different and unique in their own ways - just like my two are.  Her oldest son is also 15, and Sarah faces the same challenges I do.  As we talked I was bemoaning to Sarah how hard it is right now in raising Jay.  I feel unconnected to him, and it's so clear he wants no part of anything I have to say or do.  Sarah said her philosophy with her eldest right now is to simply feed him, hug him once a day and show up to his events.  She said he has chores he has to do but she's no longer on his case to clean his room.  She said when his room gets gross enough, he'll clean it, and guess what, it got gross enough and he cleaned it.  It was like a light bulb went off in my head.  Sarah was right on.  I'm spending so much time in trying to keep my kitchen fully stocked right now (especially since the boys are home for the summer) and truly Jay really is happiest with me when I keep my mouth shut and simply feed him.  So for now, that is my new thing: bake, hug, show up, repeat.  For the time being I'm leaving the rest up to God and Mike!