Beachy B'day Trip ~ Part 2

Betcha' didn't think I'd be back so soon, did ya??? LOL Hold on to your seats people, cuz boy do I have a lot to share today! Ha


On my last post I gave you all a sneak peek at what one of my dear blogging buddies from across the seas sent me for my b'day. If you guessed 'Shazy' from Ireland, you were correct! She made this absolutely wonderful wool stitchery for me and added the verse herself, which was very fitting I might add. It's a really big piece in real life and I do believe I'll have it framed.
Here's something else she made for me~ she used wool and wool roving, I believe it's called. She did an amazing job on it and the stitchery! Love the colors and I found the perfect place for it already, which I'll share more of, on the next post.

She also included a darling sashet w/holder, a Yankee candle tart and a postcard w/a view of her lovely country, which I hope someday to visit, esp. since Irish blood runs through my veins. Thanks again Shazy, you really surprised me w/wonderful handmade goodies that I dearly love!

Another friend and walking buddy gave me this yummy smelling candle, Pumpkin & Cinnamon(my favorite scents) and threw some other little goodies in there as well just for fun. Thank you so much Ellen! That candle smells wonderful!

My best friend from Iowa sent me a pkg. too, which included a mystery book, a gingerbread cookie cutter and some cr. st. graphs from magazines, some goodies underneath, and not one, but two cards. Thanks so much, Miss Karen! She & I send little pkgs. throughout the yr. for various seasons or holidays. We are always trading good books or giving them as gifts, mostly Christian Fiction, but others as well.

Plus my M-I-L gave me a beautiful quilt she made for my b'day, so I'll show that next time too.

Now on w/the vacation pics! This is where we stayed when we finally reached the beach. We stayed here 9 yrs. ago and it really hadn't changed all that much. They did add a Lazy River and a few things, but mostly it looked pretty much the same.

Can you tell our boys were really excited when we finally arrived???

A view of the lake from where our camper sat.

The ocean is behind all those campers.

They had updated several of the bath houses.

The infamous Lazy River, which we floated around in every day we were there. It was so much fun and it would spin you around every now/then.

The pool was fairly good size and always had several life guards on duty. The pic below shows the deep end~ 9ft. deep. The arcade in the background stayed busy all the time and was home to an ice cream shop, where we had to try it out several times during our stay~ LOL.

The campground also had a small cafe, general store, gift shop and laundry room.

They also had a live DJ during the daytime hrs. and the lifeguards always had several activities going at different times during the day, including movie night in the pool and a duck race in the lazy river.

The indoor pool was nice in the afternoon when it was beastly HOT out or raining, which it only did once while we were there.

We had the perfect trip all except for one little misshap~ on the last day there, I lost one of my contact lens in the gravel/sand/dirt near our camper, close to where BJ is sitting in this pic and after many prayers and my hubby's help, our 'neighbor' lady from Penn. came over to help when she & her hubby saw what was going on. It was quite a sight, I'm sure~ two grownups, down on hands and knees w/a light, going over the gravel like a fine-tooth comb, like trying to find a needle in a haystack. She finally spotted where it had landed and I was very grateful!!

Here's a little diner called 'Breakfast by the Sea', which is on the campgrounds, very close to the ocean. They are known for their breakfast food, but they also serve lunch and lite suppers.

This pavillion houses the 'church' services they hold each Sun. and also the older kids/teen activities.

This condo was being built when we were there 9 yrs. ago. It was lit up really pretty at night.

BJ's first trip to the beach. He wasn't too sure about the sand the first time around.

Hubby just about had to drag him in the ocean, he didn't want any part of that 'moving' water.

We would go to the beach mostly in the evenings, as they didn't allow dogs during the day. But actually we preferred it that way cuz it was cooler and less crowded, still pretty hot, but always a nice breeze blowing.

The guys would go out so far until the waves would just about knock them off their feet. It was fun to watch them! LOL

The Apache Pier was about a mile down the road from us.(I used my zoom lens for this shot). You used to be able to walk on it for free, but now they charge for it.

Just some sights we saw around the campground.

I had some more pics, but didn't want to bore you too much, so that wraps up the tour, folks! :))

Ya know how by the end of most trips you are ready to come home, well that was NOT the case w/us. We didn't want this one to end! We had so much fun together as a family and enjoyed every minute of it~ well, except for the lost contact lens! LOL

Thanks again for stopping by! Have a great wk. everyone!

~Tanya~

Beachy Birthday Trip ~ Part One

Hey everyone! I'm back!!! We had one of the best vacations we've ever taken and one of the best b'days I've ever had! Thanks to all who wished me well, privately or on here. I took over 120 pics, don't worry~ I won't make you look through all of them, ha. But I do have a LOT of goodies to share today, so will divide them into sections, if I can.

The first pic doesn't really have anything to do w/this post, but I wanted to make sure to thank Jayne P. from Florida for the darling floss holder she sent me for an exchange we were in together. This was her very first one and I think she did a great job! Thanks so much Jayne!! (the fabric is actually a little darker)~ that dang flash did it again! LOL

We left at exactly 4 A.M. to go through the mountains of Virginia in the cooler hours and stopped overnight just outside of Charlotte to break up the longgggggggg trip. The campground used to be called Carowinds or maybe still is, but it had a new sign since we'd been there. It is right next to a themepark.

This log cabin is actually the registration office in disguise. They have some arcade games in there and a pool table I think. (I didn't go in this time, but had yrs. ago).

They remodeled their pool over the yrs. but opted to use salt water instead of good ol' chlorine. It tasted just like the ocean ~ yuck! :)

As soon as we got our camper set up, my honey whipped this beauty out of the fridge, cuz my b'day was the very next day. He had it hiding under something so I wouldn't see it in there. He had ordered it earlier in the wk. and picked it up the day before we left. Sneaky, huh? :))

It was delish and we polished that baby off in a couple of days!!

My sweety gave me some b'day $$ to spend in a nearby CROSS STITCH shop!!! (Stitch and Frame Shop in Rock Hill, SC) It was one of the main reasons we stopped overnight. LOL

It was only about 10 mins. away, so off we went. I had been there yrs. ago, but they had changed owners about 4 yrs. ago. Peggy was a sweetheart and we had a good chat before I even got started 'shopping'.

The shop was sectioned off into 'rooms' that were open to each other. Lots of shop models and patterns galore, plus a framing dept. that Peggy got her start in. (I didn't get a pic of that part of the store, however). The minute I walked through the door, I was in cr. st. heaven! :))

Believe it or not, I missed a couple of rooms! But I think I got the majority of them.

As I was sorting through all my stash I'd acquired(while hubby was patiently waiting for me in the van), trying to figure out what all I could actually buy and what I'd have to put back(wahhhhhhhh!), Peggy told me about their b'day discount(saavy shopowner that she is)!!! My eyes got real big and I told her the very next day was my b'day, does that count???? so she told me to pick out a complete project~ graph, fabric, threads, etc. and she'd discount that! Well, needless to say, that was all it took!

I love the way she had everything so organized nice and neat, esp. the fabric. Stacked and divided by color and thread count. It was very easy to find what you needed. And boy, did I find what I 'needed', LOL!!

Peggy is on the left and her helper Maggie is on the right. ( I also went back the next morning before leaving for the beach, which was a few hrs. further south) after starting a new project that night in the camper.

You know how you just keep thinking about some 'stuff' that you didn't get the first time around??? So when I went back, she had two other helpers working, but I didn't get their names or pics. Those gals were very pleasant and helpful too.

Thank you ladies for such a fun visit! Peggy also does mail order too from her website, so be sure to give her a call.Here's the goodies I came home with. One was even in the clearance bin and I 'rescued' it! LOL

This one even came w/the star tin frame! and most of you know how much I love Americana!

Here's my fabric stash, and as you can see, several had red clearance stickers, so I had to 'rescue' them too!

She even carried some 'WOOL' that I've been 'needing' for a couple of projects......

and here is the project that I chose to work on while at the beach. Ironic that I chose 'snowmen' when it was extremely hot there!!
I know, I know, I told you all I was in the mood to work on Halloween in the last post. (I lied)LOL

This is what I've gotten done so far. I'm using 18ct. Cork Linen, Wild Bluebell, I think it's called, worked over two w/overdyed perle cotton, but of course I ran out of 'Bamboo' so this is as far as I got. It is a little more variegated than it shows in the pic.

This is a sneak peek of a b'day surprise from a very special lady that was waiting for me upon my return. Can you guess who stitched it??? I will show the completed stitchery, along w/ some more goodies I received from some very special friends,
and also the rest of the trip on the next post, so stay tuned~~~ you won't want to miss out!! LOL

Thanks always for stopping by and your sweet comments! I love hearing from you and thanks to my family and friends for making this b'day one I won't soon forget, but mostly to the Lord for allowing me 51 yrs. on this earth!(I was finally getting used to being the big FIVE-O)

~ugh!! LOL It's taking me awhile to get used to this new decade!

*Tanya*