Have A Little Faith: Folly Beach, South Carolina

We had just the best time on our family beach trip to Folly Beach, South Carolina. It's actually considered Charleston and is only about 15 minutes from downtown.

I must admit, the two day drive there and back REALLY took a toll on us. We were pretty grouchy by the time we arrived. Blakely was nothing short of miserable that second day of traveling. Luckily, for the drive there we caravan-ed with my parents so Blakely and Stella each got a couple turns riding with G-Daddy and Gommy (bless their hearts!!). We arrived around lunch time that second day and immediately met up with our extended family (my mom's brothers and sister). We had chosen these specific dates in order to coincide with my Uncle Richard's 70th birthday - so it was a family reunion and birthday celebration beach trip!

I have never stayed at a hotel at the beach. Growing up, it was always a beach house and after getting married, it was always a condo. Listen, I can most definitely get on board with a hotel at the beach. Someone to clean up and make up your beds, replenish your towels...and let's not forget room service and the amazing restaurant where you can just order food and take it down to the beach with you. Win, win. The pina coladas were an added bonus!

The family time was wonderful and I wished we could have extended the trip by at least a day or two. My cousin, Lauren, has a daughter Stella's age and they were FAST friends and inseparable on the beach. My cousin, Michael and Nelson, also have 3 older boys that were just so sweet to the girls. Stella was attached at the hip to Stephen, Jordan, and Rich! Blakely was obsessed with my cousin, Kristin's, husband, Benito, who she fondly called "Ito" - and still asks about him a couple times a week! And then remembers "he lives faaarrr away."

Blake and I were able to sneak away to one lunch together while Gommy and G-Daddy kept the girls on the beach.

We also had some great naps :)

We had a pizza party at the pool one night with the whole fam - lots and lots of fun! {Side note: this has become my meal of choice at the pool....so easy, just order pizza, have it delivered to the pool, swim, eat, enjoy!}

The girls couldn't have been more different in their ideas of beach bummin'! Blakely stayed close to me under the shade at all times and Stella barely left the water! Although Blakely didn't care for the water, she made it up for it in her love of sand! That kid had sand in places I didn't even know sand could get. It made for some intense bathtub scrubbing, but I'm so glad she found her little beach niche!

Poor Stella got a sunburn the second day we were there and had to wear a t-shirt and cap the last day! She loved building sand castles, digging holes, boogie boarding and chasing seagulls.

The night before we left we had a birthday celebration for my uncle and then family pictures by the pier! I mean, who doesn't love a good family pic with coordinating outfits? This girl sure does!