Friday, August 27, 2010

Ocean City: Day 1

Three weeks ago, my best friend (Katelyn) and I went to Ocean City! She and her mom invited me to go with them back in June, and I had been looking forward to the trip ever since then. I was SO excited to go! We left on August 9th early in the morning so that we could just get to the beach and soak up all the sun for the day. Of course, I took billions of pictures (like always), so I broke up the day!


We got on the road around 8:30 in the morning and were expecting about a five hour car ride, and the to be at the beach (with a minor detour in Maryland). We were fine, and we made it all the way to Maryland without any issues and stopped at Katelyn's Grandma's house. We visited for a little, and then got back on the road to go to the beach. As we were crossing over a 5 mile bridge, all of a sudden the car started clunking--clunk, clunk, clunk all the way across at 25 mph when it is supposed to be 50ish. AND we were the only lane going our direction. We were praying we would make it over the bridge, and when we did we got off and stopped at taco bell to check on the car and eat lunch. We got out of the car to find it smoking, and so we went inside to eat and see if the car would cool off. After tacos and a dairy queen mini blizzard, we decided to just call a local car company and rent a car. Highlight #1: Riding in a tow truck.



So we rented a car from enterprise, a mini van. We had TONS of room! Once we got going again, we were so excited to get to the beach! Oh, we stopped at dairy queen for drinks! Almost there!



We got to our hotel, the Sea Hawk Motel, around 5 something I think. It was SO close to the beach and it was so cute! We had a little kitchen and sink, and a cute little bathroom. Katelyn and I were BEYOND excited to be in OCEAN CITY AT THE BEACH!



We had had a long day, so we decided to go out to dinner. Some of Katelyn's family own a restuarant called the 707. Turns out it is some sports bar and grill, but the food was DELICIOUS.I had a jalapeno burger and ate THE WHOLE THING. Yum. We were even brought that complimentary, HUGE brownie sundae dessert. I was afraid the ice cream would come leaking out my shoes, because man I was stuffed. Highlight #2: A drunk old man came over to me and told me his friend wanted to buy me a drink.... nice.

Day 1 was quite the adventure, and the trip only got Better!!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Busy

I am busy doing summer assignments, because like every year, I waited until the last minute. I have lots to update, but school comes first. P.S. school starts on TUESDAY. I'm going nuts. That's too early.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Adventures

This morning we set out to go to the beach at 8:00. We ran into a few problems, leading to many new adventures. It was a long, but fun day!

1. Almost getting stuck on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge with eighteen billion cars behind us.
2. Riding in a tow truck.
3. Eating a Dairy Queen Mini Blizzard
4. Renting a MiniVan and getting back on track with our travels
5. Getting hit on by 60 year old, drunk men.
6. Running straight into a metal pole.

It was a fun day. There will be lots of explanations and pictures when I return home :) Just wanted to keep the family informed!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Good Bye

I am leaving for the beach tomorrow! I'm going to be enjoying the sand and sun with my friend Katelyn. Can't wait. Enjoy the week!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Werewolf and Karaoke

When our family gets together, we play two games that have become tradition: werewolf and karaoke. Werewolf we started I think just last year. We played it first just as our family, but when extended family came during Thanksgiving, we HAD to play. So, we were all looking forward to playing werewolf last week with the big kids (just a note--werewolf is very similar to mafia). Two nights last week, we played for hours sitting on the couches eating ice cream. What a blast.

Jacob and Breanne

Dad and Aunt Tara

Suzanne

Rachel

Typical :)


Karaoke has been around in our family for a while. I think when I was 9 I played Karaoke for the first time on Playstation at my friend's house, and LOVED it. We got Karaoke games soon after, and love playing them. When we go to Maine to visit family, the games come with us. When family comes to visit us, Karaoke is waiting on the shelf. Many hilarious videos and pictures have resulted from Karaoke night. We play for fun, because the Kemmey's were, unfortunately, not blessed with awesome singing genes. It is quite a riot. We played Karaoke until 3 in the morning. I'm sure the neighbors were loving us :)

Breanne was hesitant at first, but she got into it!

Shoveling Brownie dessert

Singing along with the Karaokers

Singing

I love traditions :)

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Lake Anna

Last Tuesday as part of our little vacation we went to Lake Anna and took the little kids swimming. It actually wasn't the best lake day-there were lots of clouds and little sun. The kids loved the water, though (we had the Kemmey kids plus cousins). They splashed around and dug a little in the sand, but not much. Somehow we forgot to grab the sand toys. Of course, we also munched on cookies and chips and drinks. After a while we were all laying in the sand, and the little kids headed up to the park just a few feet away. Little did we know, Bryce would break his wrist, and our lake trip would end. It was a fun day and was good to have family with us!

Pre-broken wrist, of course!

Group Shot!

Cousin Jonah

Gray and Jacob threw kids in the water for a long time! Some of them flew both high and far! Too bad they weren't facing us!

Tanner

Cute little Ryan

Breanne

One Fun Night

The night I am about to describe ranks as one of the best of the summer. Lots of fun! It started with a devious act between Breanne and me. Gray and Jacob ran to get Bryce and Mom from the ER with his broken wrist, and we quickly set up with our Marshmallow guns. Breanne hopped on top of the big red van, and I barricaded myself by the trashcans, and we waited for the car to pull up. When it did, we shot them and covered them with tiny, mini marshmallows. Success. We quickly went inside to clean up (we were going out), and left the marshmallow guns and marshmallows on the counter. STUPID. The boys picked them up and shot a bunch at us. It was fun :)

Breanne and me on top of the red van.

Standing my ground

Breanne attacked from on top of the van. Fun.


Later that night we went to IHOP, because they are open all the time. Gray, Suzanne, Jacob, Breanne, and I enjoyed pancakes, omelets, bacon, sausage, sandwiches, etc at midnight. Delicious. After dinner, we headed to Walmart, because it was the only place we could think of that was open and we weren't quite ready to go home yet. We pranced around in Walmart, playing volleyball between the isles, having sword fights, and getting in the pool. Fun. We didn't even get in any trouble :)











We were paged by our parents to return home around one, and so that ended the night. Memories!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Favorite

Helamen 5:12

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation ; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Jefferson Memorial

While we were in D.C. visiting the Temple, we decided to stop by the Jefferson Memorial rather than sit in traffic and take a few pictures. The stair turned out to be perfect for a little action!

Me, Breanne (Jacob's GF), and Suzanne



Washington D.C. Temple

As part of our little "vacation" last week, we spent Wednesday at the national zoo and the temple. The zoo turned out to be a complete flop, as it was 100 degrees and everyone and their brother were there. Also, because it was so hot, none of the animals wanted to make an appearance. They were keeping cool in the back of their cages. So after two hours, we up and left, and headed to the temple.

While we were at the zoo, we ran into two LDS missionaries, who informed us that the temple was actually closed due to a large storm that had knocked out their power. We decided to go anyway, partly hoping it would be open, and because if it was closed, it would be perfect to take pictures. We had a good time, and my cousin's girlfriend visited the D.C. temple for the first time (although she's been to one in South Carolina). The temple is such a beautiful place.