Sun, Run, Scuba & Spring Break

April started off with the annual Cooper River Bridge Run! This year, we were joined not only by the Farrells, who have gone many times with us, but with the Dunlaps and the Whitcombs! We had an awesome VRBO that was right next to the market. Nana watched the kids while we were gone the entire weekend. On Friday afternoon, we went to our staple lunch place, Taco Boy. That night, we went to a restaurant that is somewhat new called Pawpaw. Everyone ran a great race, but this year, instead of showering immediately afterward we continued our celebration around the city. We has lunch at The Rarebit then went to an awesome place called Republic, which has a great outdoor patio and live bands playing as well as a DJ inside. Heather was the winner out of our group and had an amazing time (around 47 minutes). I was quite pleased with my time as I had a personal record of barely over 50 minutes. I just can’t seem to break 50 minutes. That bridge gets me everytime. Saturday night, we went to R. Kitchen, which is such an amazing restaurant where you get a five-course meal for $35 in a very intimate, yet casual setting. 

Brayden went to Great Wolf Lodge with her best friends, Marli and Cora, to celebrate Marli’s birthday. They had a blast and she rode the Tornado waterslide. I had a day trip to San Jose for work, where I met with our marketing team for yearly planning. It was a quick trip, but very productive. Hanleigh had a presentation school, in which she had to present a synopsis of a book that she read. She chose Judy Moody Predicts the Future and recited an entire mini monologue about the character. She even dressed like her as well. It was really cute.

For spring break, we went to Beaches Turks and Caicos and had an absolutely amazing time. It really is our heaven on Earth. The weather was perfect. I don’t even think it rained once. The highlight of the trip for me was witnessing firsthand Brayden do her first real open-water dive, followed by a second one. She loved it and handled it like a pro and even wished she has seen a shark! When I was on separate diving excursions, I saw about six sharks total over the course of two days, one of which I got extremely close to. So awesome! We saw lots of parrotfish, turtles, and stingrays when we snorkeled. Check out the video to see more. The rest of the trip was spent lying in the sun by the pool, on the beach, sipping delicious cocktails and eating lots of food! Yum!

After our trip, we went to Grandma’s house for an Easter dinner, which was so delicious. Brayden attended a Charlotte ballet performance with her good friend, Annie, and then had a slumber party. The BEAM team just adores each other!

Nana took Hanleigh to the Hawkfest Festival, where she chow down on tons of sugar and then they went out to Hickory Tavern for dinner. All this while Trent and I went to see Love Canon at an uptown brewery. It was great to be so close to the stage, however, I think we were the only ones actually dancing during the entire performance. It’s quite comical, but they are always so amazing in concert. The last weekend of the month, we went to Carowinds to celebrate Cooper’s eighth birthday. I swear, the older I get, the less tolerance I have for riding roller coasters. Or insane crowds. Good thing is that the weather was beautiful and Cooper had a blast. We worked on Brayden’s room a bit more in terms of painting. It is looking really really good!

Brayden-isms:

• I know there aren’t many Brayden-isms that I post up here. She does say silly things, but just much less frequent. I guess this means she is blossoming into a young lady (OYE!)—albeit one who prefers to dress very casual! Not sure I’m ready for this!

Hanleigh-isms:

• She was talking about what you say when someone sneezes and said, “Kazunetype!”
• While playing Family Feud and quizzing each other at breakfast one morning, Hanleigh said, “In a survey of 100 people, name three people you don’t know.” Hilarious!
• One day she said, “I’m full. But not for dessert. Because I have two stomachs, which means I have two butt holes.”

View Photos | View April Video | View Spring Break Video