South Carolina Beach and Goblin Valley

This summer we have had a lot of stuff planned and lots of trips.  That meant that for work I rarely worked the full week and usually had at least one of the days off.  But I finally had two weeks in a row without time off and it felt extra exhausting.  So, when our much anticipated beach vacation finally arrived, I was so excited to get away. We went to Seabrook Island, SC for a few days to relax and see Nate's family. Nate grew up going there on family vacations and the tradition has continued.  I've been able to join them for the past two years now.

One of the girls hiding in her favorite spot- the nightstand.  

The island is about an hour away from Charleston and is mainly for vacationers but some people do live there.  It has a beach house, a pool house, and lots of beach fronts.  It also has canoeing and kayaking. This year Nate and I were staying in a big house with his mom, his 3 sister's (+ a boyfriend and a husband), and most importantly, 3 super cute nieces ( I especially love them because my family has provided me no nieces or nephews). We hadn't seen them since the same vacation last summer.

Disc golf hole that pro in front of us got in one throw

We had a redeye flight to SC and then, of course, as Hixson tradition dictates, went straight to Chick-fil-a for breakfast.  Then we spent some time shopping in Charleston at the outlet malls there. The rest of the days we spent on the Island just swimming and relaxing. We also played a little disc golf.  We were behind some seriously intense players, and one of them got a hole in one for the hole in the picture. We also played glow stick hide and seek, which we say is for the girls, but everyone LOVES it.  Overall it was a much needed vacation and great to see everyone again.

The following week we went to Goblin Valley, a state park in southeastern utah.  We went with a few of my college friends and camped down there for the weekend.  I hadn't ever been even though I grew up here in Utah and am really glad I was able to see it before we left.  It has some incredibly cool land formations they call goblins and is completely unique.  We spent all day climbing around on them minus the hottest hours of the day because it was SCALDING!  But during our down time we played different card games and Boggle, and entertained ourselves watching the ants carry huge pieces of our food back to their hole.  The best part was when a chipmunk ran in and stole the Dorito that four of them had spent a half hour carrying.  I highly recommend taking a trip there for everyone reading this!  It is only about 3.5 hours from SLC.

Coming soon... My sister got married this past weekend.  It was amazing and deserves it's own post.