Share Our Lives: July 2025

Hello and happy Monday!

How was your weekend? We got home from our trip on Saturday night, yesterday we picked Hayden up from running camp, and then spent the rest of the day trying to get our lives in order. I was somewhat successful in that endeavor, but I also have quite the “to do” list today and tomorrow.

Anyway, it’s the second Monday of the month, so I’m co-hosting the Share Our Lives link up with some of my favorite bloggers.

So far this year, we’ve discussed…

• Saving time on chores in January
• Tips for falling asleep in February
• Day in the life, an average day in March
• Creative outlets/free time in April
• How do you spend your birthday in May
• Unique things about where you live in June

This month’s topic is…best vacation memory.

I was excited to write this post today as some of my favorite posts to write are the ones where I look back on certain times in life.

When I thought about this topic, the first thing that popped in my mind was the first time we took the kids to the beach in 2011. I blogged about it last summer in a Throwback Thursday post.

Travis and I had gone to Folly Beach near Charleston the summer before to celebrate our five year wedding anniversary. It was a great getaway, but one of the first times we “planned ahead” and thought about bringing the kids the next year.

When we went back to Folly in 2016, the kids would have been twenty months old or so…as soon as we got out of the car, we headed to the beach. Hadley pointed at the ocean and didn’t want anything to do with it. Hayden ran around, getting sandy and even got his shorts wet.

To know them, you would have expected the opposite based on their personalities. We had a great week, but we did leave a day early because it was a rainy day, and we needed to get the kids home and back into a routine. That was the first of many beach trips.

In 2013, we again went to the Charleston area, but stayed in Isle of Palms, SC for the first time. This pic is just the sweetest memory…

…so sweet that I keep it framed in their bathroom.

We’ve also spent many wonderful summers in Siesta Key, and it’s another great place that the kids are familiar with and love visiting. We love going to the beach after dinner…especially when the kids were little. I love this pic of them frolicking in the water.

When the kids were five, we planned a day at Disney World during our stay in Siesta Key. We drove up to Orlando for the day, and the kids were so excited when we surprised them. I will save the video forever…of them squealing and hopping up and down.

Another favorite memory is our trip to the Grand Canyon. This trip all came about because Hayden had read about the Grand Canyon and wanted to go. Neither Trav nor I had been, so we planned a trip to Arizona…followed by California and Nevada.

I blogged about it in 2020.

We’ve made tons of beach memories with friends the past few years. We’ve enjoyed going to the 30A area of Florida for fall break. The weather is so nice, and the kids have plenty to do. It’s rare to find friends you can travel with, and now, with three years under our belt, I feel like it’s such a blessing to have these memories with such great friends.

Going to Mexico a couple of years ago was such a highlight because the kids had never been out of the country, and Trav and I hadn’t been to Mexico since our honeymoon. The resort was so nice, we relaxed, we went to Isla Mujeres, and just had a really great time.

Last summer, our trip to Oregon and Washington really takes the cake. It took a lot of planning by Trav, and what made it so memorable was that the kids were so excited to go. It’s not often you can go to the Olympic Track Trials, and that was only part of our trip, but we had such a great time in Portland, Eugene, the Oregon coast, Olympic National Park, Seattle and more.

Since Trav and I just got back from Michigan, it had me thinking about some of our trips. I always love when I tag along with him when he goes to Del Mar, California for work. Del Mar is truly one of my favorite places.

Of course, we’ve traveled other places, but since we just got back from Michigan to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, I got to thinking about some of the other anniversary trips we’ve gone on.

For our 1st wedding anniversary, we went to Siesta Key, and it was my first time going there.

Like I mentioned above, we went to Charleston/Folly Beach for our 5th wedding anniversary.

For our 10th anniversary, we went to Lake Tahoe. That was another fabulous trip; we loved that area.

For our 15th, it was 2020 and Covid, so we didn’t plan a trip away. We did go to Siesta Key that summer with the kids once we felt it was safe to do so.

This week, I hope to recap our trip to Michigan. The towns were so cute, and the weather was great!

I know this post topic was about a favorite “memory” and not “memories,” but this was a fun look back.

I can’t wait to read what others have to share.

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