I hate camping but this is FUN!!!!

Every year my sister and her family spend a couple of weeks in their travel trailer here in Myrtle Beach..it is family friendly with tons of amenities but still, I always thought, it's camping...YUCK! but...for the last few years, I've been able to visit her there for a few hours...and this year, for a couple of days...it was REALLY fun...so much so that I made reservations for us to camp next to her next year....for 10 whole days...in a camper I have not yet acquired and cannot afford but on my Christmas wish list is a pop-up (which is all we can haul with our vehicles but NY bred Pete refuses anything that doesn't have air conditioning and cable TV...me either)

They sleep 6-8 and have a/c, a fridge, sink and either outside or inside stove...and Jean's spot is right next to the large bathhouse...and the ocean breezes are AWESOME...and we could haul a pop-up cause it folds down small...

so it's not as nice as Jean's but she'll let me sit with her (and I'm getting some of those colored lights...Pete will just have to have a coronary!!! heehee) I promise to buy my own "big boy" chair.. We love sitting out enjoying the breeze and talking and talking and laughing and swapping memories...I can't describe the calm I feel there...so so calm...

(and note that pop-up next to her travel trailer...that will be US next year...that's our spot!! we'll just extend the "front porch gathering spot"!!) why is it so fun? well, you get to watch Grandma and David in the ice cream eating contest....

and spend some relaxed one on one time with family in a slowwwww pace...

me and my mama above and me and my sister Kim below....

and then there's all that cozy cousin time...

and as LaNelle so truly said, my sister and I act about 15 years old when we get together...so?

and at Lakewood, Kim brings her FAMOUS and DELICIOUS pound cake....yum!!

Floyd and Laurel live close so they always visit too...and my Dad and DeeDee, too

ok, I'll just admit it...I really just like having a golf cart to ride around in...even in the monsoon so Jean could have a ding dong...ok that's a lie...I wanted a snack so we left the van and took the golfcart to the camp store...who knew the drizzle would become a hurricane????? not us but it was HYSTERICAL...this is looking dead ahead from the golfcart as we drove home....

and getting to go on Floyd's new boat was a bonus...it will be in awesome shape next summer!!

I LOVE seeing extended family having a blast together...it is a VERY warm and just aweome experience!!! I love my neices!!!

and Lakewood has cool treats like this 4th of July snocone....(yes I know...I am a redneck at heart!!)

the family fun pass means we can canoe and play mini-golf and slide on the hippo slide and play water wars and shuffleboard and paddle boats...and the list goes on...for free!!! woot woot!

J Con and Michael have so much fun together!!! I love watching them...and they had a great time with the paddle boats!!

It is a Christian atmosphere which makes it nice and they have 8 zillion old guys as security guards keeping everyone safe...kids ride bikes everywhere and the teens "cruise" in the golf carts at night (when we old ladies give them a turn!!!) It is just fun and relaxed and everyone is TOGETHER instead of spread out everywhere...we will continue to have family vacays in condos but once a year, for a few days, I will be camping next to my sister (sorry Jeff...there goes your quiet time...) and letting the twins experience some old fashioned fun with cousins...because as we all know too well...life changes, kids grow up and these days never come back again...thanks Jean for letting us in on this great adventure (and everyone pray Pete catches the camping vision by next June...he's a bit hesitant...oh, and yes, we need to find a camper we can afford...details details...I'll worry about that another day!! lol