What a great weekend! :)
Birthdays for me are really unpredictable. Iv had some really good ones, as well as some upsetting ones-so I was not too sure how it was going to turn out this year. I started organizing to do something with a group of friends until all the host families decided to take vacation the exact same weekend!!! All my plans were now non existent as all the girls were out of town :(
SO I was chatting to Lynn and she said we can do something as a family together, and we decided on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk!!
SO back to the beginning-
I do have a new friend, Natalia, who shares a birthday with me:) So Saturday we ventured out into the city, and did another walking stint from around 10am to about 4pm. (Still loving this about the city!) We went to places we haven't seen yet, including some we had. Downtown, Coit Tower, Telegraph Hill, Lombard street and then we went down to the water and walked along all the piers. The weather was AMAZING for a San Fran summer day, so we were taking full advantage!
That evening we decided to go out to celebrate that the next day was the 14th-both our birthdays!! We had a great time on Union Street! Union completely comes alive at night over the weekends, and its even better that you dont have to pay entrance to a lot of places! So you can hop from place to place instead of being stuck at one! (like many other places in the US ): )
The next day I was woken bright an early by my sweet granny all the way in SA giving me a birthday call! Then the family made blueberry pancake and bacon for breakfast. We all enjoyed them and I opened my presents. They got me a gift, as well as ordering some South African food products for me!!!!
Lynn, the girls and I left for a fun day at the boardwalk! We went on rides, roller-coasters, played games, ate ice cream and had a blast! This place, in my opinion, is a typical American on-the-beach theme park that you would see in the movies! We only got back to the house around 8pm where Brad had my favourite pizza waiting for us all! After pizza, they sang to me and we all had an AMAZING cake that Lynn baked for me-and by that time it was definitely time for bed!
The day before, my birthday package from Ross arrived, which made me SUPER happy, and a couple of days before that the one from my mom arrived as well, so I was feeling very loved!
It turned out to be a good year in my birthday opinion! BUT its not over yet ;) When all the girls are back from vacation-we will celebrate again!!
until then...
Roxy
Last time I was in the States, I did'int have the greatest 4th of July.I went with a group of girls into Boston and we ended up standing around in the heat for HOURS waiting for the fireworks, which ended so quickly and then we were stuck in the crowds for more hours trying to get home! But this year was way different, and soo much better :)
We were in Kiawah, and there was a party on the island at one of the beach clubs. felt like a typical 'southern' party. There was a band and then different tents filled with all sorts of things ranging from food to kids games to smoothie bars and more!
The food was great! was a huge buffet of american burgers, hot dogs, corn bread and desserts of cookies, cupcakes etc.
There was a field filled with games for the kids and tents with popcorn, candy floss, face painting, kids cocktails and smoothies, crafts and party favours.
We had a great time walking around, playing games with the girls, eating and dancing to the band a bit and then the night ended with an amazing fireworks display.
I go to try photograph fireworks for the first time with my new camera, and some came out pretty well!
It was a great 4th July and Independence day. I couldn't have asked for anything better!
What a fun night!
Kiawah Island is beautiful!
Its warm, humid and there is a lot of water! Its not an island as in all beach and tropical. It is in the south so, like the south east American states, it is marshy, and full of canals, reeds and wetlands-it is really beautiful!
The closest city is Charleston. It is close enough that you don't feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, but far enough away that you truly feel like you are out in nature. The Island does not have many commercial shops on it, just a simple grocery store etc, so it has been really great to get away from all the hustle and bustle of the city!
There are many beaches and they stretch on for miles and miles. Its awesome as the water is warm enough to just walk in without feeling chilly (and if you know me, that is a huge bonus!) and he beaches are flat, which make for a great run!
Our days have been consumed of the beach, lounging at the beach club, the pool and boat rides on the river.
We were sitting outside the other morning, and there was a strange sound coming from the river, and someone jumps up and says-dolphins! I was like, ya right, dolphins stay in the ocean! But right there before me, were 4 dolphins chilling in the river feeding. Was super cool, we ran down to the dock, and they were within 2 meters of us! So now every morning the girls go and wait to see if they will come back. They do! Every morning, they go up the river, and come back down!
On Monday it was a little rainy, so we went into Charleston for the day. The city is full of civil war history which was awesome! We went on a tour to Fort Sumter. Its the little fort in the middle of the harbor where the first shot was fired that started the war. It was really cool! We also went on bicycle drawn carriages around town and got to see some of the old houses around the city. We ended the day with an awesome seafood meal on the water!
So apparently they celebrate the 4th July on the 3rd here in South Carolina. So tonight we are off to a big celebration at one of the beach clubs. There's going to be a buffet BBQ, fireworks and apparently a lot of entertainment-I'm excited!!! Iv got my red white and blue outfit ready!
Fort Sumter
Bike ride! FUN!!
DOLPHINS in the RIVER
Kiawah Island
I do have a new friend, Natalia, who shares a birthday with me:) So Saturday we ventured out into the city, and did another walking stint from around 10am to about 4pm. (Still loving this about the city!) We went to places we haven't seen yet, including some we had. Downtown, Coit Tower, Telegraph Hill, Lombard street and then we went down to the water and walked along all the piers. The weather was AMAZING for a San Fran summer day, so we were taking full advantage!
That evening we decided to go out to celebrate that the next day was the 14th-both our birthdays!! We had a great time on Union Street! Union completely comes alive at night over the weekends, and its even better that you dont have to pay entrance to a lot of places! So you can hop from place to place instead of being stuck at one! (like many other places in the US ): )
The next day I was woken bright an early by my sweet granny all the way in SA giving me a birthday call! Then the family made blueberry pancake and bacon for breakfast. We all enjoyed them and I opened my presents. They got me a gift, as well as ordering some South African food products for me!!!!
