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Posts Tagged ‘travel’

Virgin Gorda! Day 5

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged travel, virgin gorda on November 23, 2011| 1 Comment »

i woke up early today to get in a little paddling before the day’s adventure. being on the water was so peaceful as the island was waking up…

later in the morning, mom and dad chartered a private boat to take us over to a nearby remote island…

the ride over was beautiful, with big white puffy clouds, blue sky, and crystal clear waters…

when we got there, we were blown away by the color of the water. you can’t even describe the beauty of this place!

while waiting for lunch to be served, we had fun playing in the water…

matt and matt snorkeling…

for lunch, we had the famous lobster…and if you think this looks delicious, it tasted even better!

we were sad to say goodbye to the little island, but excited to see the sights on the way back to virgin gorda…

our captain, mitchell, has alot of celebrity clients and he recently picked up beyonce and jay-z. he said beyonce sat in the very seat that mom was sitting in!!! how cool is that!?

necker island, owned by richard branson. it costs $52,000 PER NIGHT to stay here!

no, this is not a cruise ship. it is a $250 Million dollar private yacht!

captain mitchell! he told lots of great stories 🙂

it was a pretty perfect day, cant wait for tomorrow!

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Virgin Gorda! Day 4

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged family, travel, virgin gorda on November 22, 2011| 1 Comment »

we woke up to another beautiful morning. it was the perfect day to spend some time in the water!

all the “kids” (except me) went scuba-diving, so mom and i spent some time at the private beaches by our house.

i have been waiting for this all week…paddleboarding! it was the MOST beautiful scenery i have ever seen. being on the water, looking back at the beaches and the house was just so breathtaking…

caitlyn was kind enough to get some pictures at their scuba class…

this might be one of my most favorite pictures of matt, ever!…

on their lunch break mom, caitlyn, matt and i went to mad dog cafe at the baths for sandwiches…

love this candid shot…

the view was not too shabby…

after lunch, they headed back to their class and mom and i headed to the grocery store. we had just made it out of our neighborhood when we saw these guys just chillin in the road…

for dinner we grilled steaks out on the veranda, with this as the backdrop…

you really can’t beat that view…priceless!

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Virgin Gorda! Day 3

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged family, travel on November 21, 2011| 1 Comment »

this morning we woke up bright and early for our annual family photo shoot. its always half tedious and half hilarious 🙂 we all complain but inside we love the tradition 🙂

after everyone had multiple pictures taken we drove over to the other side of the island…but first we stopped at some of the lookouts along the way…

we drove by the CUTEST little post office. so tiny!…

we got on a little ferry that took us to the bitter end yacht club. they call it the bitter end because it is the “bitter end” of the virgin island chain (aka the southernmost point) and let me tell you…its the opposite of bitter. its the most gorgeous blue water i have ever seen….

after walking around a bit, we took another little boat over to saba rock, a little bitty island with a hotel and restaurant on it. its so cute and so tiny and the food was delicious, but the view was even better…

the view from our table at lunch…

virgin lava flows and pina coladas. my favorite tropical drink ever and it totally reminds me of all the trips i took to hawaii growing up…

they have the best cheeseburgers here. i think they taste better because of the view…

can’t forget key lime pie! some of the best i’ve ever had…

after a quick stop by the dive shop we got back to the house just in time to see this…

mom, matt and i decided to explore the baths a little bit before the sun went down, so we walked down the beach to get to them. i couldnt believe how beautiful the sunset was…

we got to the baths (which are basically giant rocks that make a natural playground, complete with caves, swings, slides and pools) and mom gave us a quick overview of how to climb through them. more pics to come when we go with everyone tomorrow! but heres a little smidge of what we were walking through…

sunset…

we got back to our room to find this little guy in our sink! he was a tree frog and very sticky… all the critters here just hang around the houses (chickens, goats, geckos, frogs) like they own the place. so funny!…

this has been a great day, and we are all going to bed very tired and happy 🙂

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Virgin Gorda! Day 2

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged family, travel on November 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

This morning we woke up to a beautiful day…

Dad, Matt, Stephen, Kim and I went on an excursion to the grocery store, and decided to take a little detour to explore the island.

We drove up this ridiculously steep hill where we could see the whole island…

After buying a whole lot of groceries we headed back to the house where the rest of the gang had found the most beautiful beach right next door to our house.

This is what you think of when you think of tropical beaches. Soft white sand and turquoise blue water…

We had a great time snorkeling and climbing the giant boulders…

After wearing ourselves out we headed back to the pool at the house to watch the sun set…

We ordered dinner in and then the gang played tennis on our private tennis courts (I watched)…

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Virgin Gorda! Day 1

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged family, travel on November 19, 2011| 1 Comment »

We arrived in virgin gorda this afternoon and let me tell you, we are already in love!

We took little private planes from St Thomas over to Virgin Gorda and that was pretty cool being so low to the ground!

We got to our villa and our mouths dropped open. It’s the most beautiful accommodations we have ever stayed in! We want to move in!

our front yard is a beach with lots of huge boulders, it’s so much fun to climb on all the rocks and so beautiful!

After a dip in the infinity pool, the night ended with a private chef making a delicious steak and mahi dinner on the veranda

Weve only been here a few hours but we want to stay forever! 🙂

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weekend fun! camping edition!

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged camping, family, friends, hexie, travel on October 18, 2011| 2 Comments »

this past weekend i planned a surprise camping trip for husbys 31st birthday! he has been asking me to go camping for months now so i knew he would be so excited for a big weekend trip! i invited a bunch of our closest friends, and while the surprise aspect went horribly wrong the trip itself was a complete and total success!

some good friends of ours let us use their property in uwharrie national park, named shadowlands. it was BEAUTIFUL and we were so thankful they let us stay there.

we got there a little later than we planned, so it was dark when we pulled up and started setting up camp. that just made it more exciting and wild feeling 🙂

adam and matt lee were in charge of starting the fire…

ricky and matt started setting up the tents…

success!

once they got a good fire going matt lee started cooking the hobo packets i had brought…

anxiously awaiting dinner…

after a good nights sleep, we woke up bright and early to a gorgeous day!…

stephen started the fire back up, while hexie watched over the campsite…

it was nice seeing what the camp actually looked like once the sun came up…

the property was beautiful and i had a mini photo shoot with hexie waiting for everyone to wake up…

for breakfast we had toad-in-the-holes, eggs-in-a-basket, bullseye toast, whatever you want to call it, it was delicious!…

after breakfast we went on a walk by the river…

as usual, hexie jumped right in and had a blast…

this is what she looked like for most of the walk, just a big, wet, blur!…

some of us drove further into the forest to go rappelling. the scenery was STUNNING. it couldn’t have been a more gorgeous view from the cliff…

matt lee, stephen, ricky, husby and i all rappelled off a 60-100 ft. cliff (i heard different heights so i dont know exactly how tall it was but it was REALLY tall)! it was so much fun! i haven’t rappelled in a really long time but i was so glad i did it! husby had never rappelled at all and he conquered the mountain like a champ! so proud of him!

mountain men…

getting the ropes ready…

matt lee…

ricky…

stephen…

husby…

i was so proud of amanda! she had never rappelled before so the big cliff was a bit much for her but she did a smaller one and she rocked it!…

when we got back to camp, more of the group showed up for the party!

we had hot dogs and smores for dinner- perfect camping food!

girl photo!…

fire dance!…

love these two photos!…

stacie was our entertainment for the evening, reciting poems, doing her ostrich impression…

the guys did a great job chopping firewood and keeping the fire blazing…

slightly creepy campfire photo…

after stuffing ourselves silly with s’mores we all cozied up in our tents and got a good nights sleep.

the next morning we cooked pancakes and bacon over the fire for breakfast…

they weren’t all pretty but they were very tasty!!!…

after breakfast we took another walk down by the river, where we had an impromptu photo shoot…

big difference between the girls…

and the boys…

when it was time to pack up and head home, i dont think hexie wanted us to pack up the tents, she loved being the camp watchdog!…

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a trip to my city!

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged central park, nyc, travel on October 4, 2011| 1 Comment »

last monday, mom and i went to NYC for a few days for some shopping…and eating….and seeing shows….but mostly shopping. it was the first time i had been back since we moved to raleigh, and i LOVED every minute of being there! here are some iphone photos of our trip…

the empire hotel.

our room.

view from our bedroom.

view from our living room.

antipasti at cafe fiorello.

shopping at bendels.

fifth ave.

listening to live opera on the steps of lincoln center.

then listening from our hotel room with the windows open.

walking in central park.

our favorite french pastries.

anything goes with mom and sarah.

cheese plate in the hotel lobby with sarah.

shopping on 5th.

lunch at the mandarin oriental, overlooking the city.

war horse at lincoln center.

as you can see, it was a fabulous trip. i sort of hate that im just a visitor in NYC now, and not a local, but i love the city as much as ever. thanks mom for a great first trip back!

***both of the shows we saw were AMAZING, for two totally different reasons! anything goes is happy and funny, and war horse is emotional and intense, but i loved both of them so much. highly recommend!

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st louis trip!

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged mercy, st louis, travel on October 1, 2011| 1 Comment »

One Wednesday in September, 7 of us girls(mom, me, val, jen, kim, elizabeth and amanda) headed to st. louis for the joyce meyer women’s conference! this was our 4th(?) time going, and each time is better than the last!

after we got off the plane, we went straight to a little creperie for lunch. it was rainy and cold so it was the perfect day for a cozy little cafe…

we were invited by nancy alcorn to spend some time at mercy ministries, so that evening we headed out to fenton. we loved getting to hear some of the girls stories and just hanging out with them. we heart the mercy girls!

on thursday we had free time before the sessions started so we explored downtown st. louis. that city has some great spaces!

the city garten was AWESOME. we definitely made the most of all the interactive sculptures in the garden. it was so much fun!

these photos crack me up…

creepiest sculpture EVER!…

val and jen in the creepiest sculpture EVER!…

of course we couldn’t go to st.louis and not see the famous arch!

thanks to jen for being willing to do this…

to get this shot…

after taking pics outside, we decided to go straight to the very top!

you take these funny little spaceships up through the inside of the arch:

tiny doors to get in the pods…

mom in her pod. she looks like a little martian!

on our way!…

at the top they had little windows…

that showed you this view…

630 feet up!…

after all that exploring, we headed back to our beautiful hotel (it used to be a train station!) to get ready for the conference…

so the conference started thursday night, and it was awesome. i know for me, i heard exactly what i needed to hear for this time in my life, and im sure all the other ladies felt the same…

israel houghton and the new breed did some incredible worship sets… i love his story and his music…

we heard from joyce (obviously)…

we heard a kick butt message from nancy alcorn…

we ate lunch with some awesome ibo ladies…

we ate lunch with the mercy girls…

i think its funny that this is the only picture we got of us and it was on the way out of the conference…

we had an amazing time, and im beyond thankful that i got to go with this great group!

**thanks to amanda for the picture of the outside of the hotel since i forgot to take one! 🙂

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floating off into the sunset…

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged family, travel on July 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »

we are off on our annual family beach trip, which means i will be in my favorite place on earth for the next two weeks. posting may or may not be light but i will be around. happy summer, everyone!

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weekend fun! july 4th edition

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged family, travel on July 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »

for the 4th of july we flew down to matts parents house in fairhope, al. it is the CUTEST little town, truly small town america. every time we go down there i find something new to love. this weekend was no different! because it was the 4th, everything was decorated with red white and blue, and the whole town was dressed up in its patriotic finest! so cute!

on saturday we went shopping at our favorite local farm stand for ingredients for a cookout lunch…

i dont have any photos from the cookout because we were to busy cooking up a storm!

sunday matt and i decided it was such a beautiful day that we HAD to get in the water! so we went and bought some floats so we could enjoy the bay with jill…

after all the fun in the sun we had a picnic lunch out on the dock…

feeding the seagulls our leftovers…

that evening we went down to the town square…which happens to be a park complete with rose garden and a pier…so cute!

they were having a special celebration for the veterans and it was adorable. the choir group was made up of veterans and they had kids singing patriotic solos…adorable!

chichi enjoying the celebration…

grandad standing for the navy’s song…

the morning of the 4th we went to a fancy-shmancy brunch buffet at the local resort. the grand hotel in point clear is absolutely beautiful, its been in business since 1847(or something crazy like that) and its pretty much magical.

after a FABULOUS breakfast…

we walked the grounds and took some family photos…

(…”uh, guys, the cameras this way!”)

the restaurant has its own herb garden! love it!

mccleskeys!

chichi was very excited that we brought him some leftovers…

that night we went to the bluffs overlooking the bay and listened to roman street (chiefs favorite local band) and then the baldwin county pops. the weather was perfect, the music was great, and i even flagged down the ice cream truck for some ice cream cones for everyone!

we headed home to watch the fireworks from the dock at their house…the perfect vantage point because we could see all the different towns shows all around us!