Hole in One!

Sorry I haven't updated this in a while, but here's a quick recap over what's happened since Thursday...

Thursday afternoon after work, Charlotte, Alice, and I joined Khadijah at Fresh Start to have a barbecue with the girls at the facility. We got to meet the girls and some of their kids, have a nice hot dog and hamburger dinner, play some games, and just give the girls a change of scenery and some new faces for a while. The girls don't get out that much and are rarely exposed to new faces, so this was something that I think they really enjoyed and appreciated. Khadijah did a really great job preparing the food and planning all of the activities. The girls at the facility seem to really like her, so I think she picked a great spot for her internship.

Friday was a pretty good day as well. At the Troy-Johnson Center, the four-year-old class had horseback riding in the morning and I got to ride...twice! Lightning (the horse) was a great horse who just walked the kids around a gated circle. The kids seemed to enjoy it a lot, and of course I had a great time. I even got the horse to canter by myself! It was really fun. And then to make the day even better, Alice, Brandon, John Luttrell, and I went to Webster's for lunch! This buffet-style restaurant is a wonderful spot located in downtown Mullins that a lot of the locals really enjoy. They are only opened for lunch on the weekdays, so we've got to find a way to get everyone there together before the summer is over. The rest of the day at work was really great, and I was kind of sad that I wasn't going to be with Mrs. Jackie at the center next week. But I am really excited to see how I can get involved in some research at the Center for the Child next week so hopefully I won't miss my other job too much. A lot of people went home for the weekend. In fact, it's only John Deans, Khadijah, Alice, and I here this weekend! When we got home, we decided what we wanted for dinner, and Alice and I went to Food Lion to pick up the ingredients. The chosen meal was turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes, roasted zucchini, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert! Talk about a good dinner right? The girls worked on dinner while John was at the gym and he brought back The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for us to watch after dinner. Unfortuanely, I was unable to stay awake for the entire movie (not a big surprise) and fell asleep early. Even though, I didn't quite make it through all the fun, it was really nice to have a nice evening with just a few of us. It was nice and quiet and drama-free and we all really enjoyed each other's company. :)

Today was another great day. I got up pretty early and finished reading Nickel and Dimed (finally!) and just got an early start to the day. John Deans and I went to the gym after breakfast. After we came back, we were all hoping to go the library to get our library cards and check out some new books. However, we were unaware that the library closes at 1:00 on Saturday afternoons and since we arrived at 1:08, we were not able to check out any books. :(
Despite our disappointment, we quickly became happy again when Ben Demarco and his sister Grace came to visit us! Ben had come home for the weekend and was planning to go with us to Conway/Myrtle Beach for the day. I volunteered to drive since I had the biggest car and we squeezed six of us into my little Corolla. We had a great time driving there and back and once again enjoyed each other's company. First we went to the mall to do a little window shopping and just hang out for a while. John and Ben had a great time in the arcade, while the girls checked out Victoria's Secret, Charlotte Rouse, and our other favorite spots. We also check out the massage chairs and awesome mattresses at Brookstone...lol! After the mall, we decided to check out Broadway at the Beach instead of actually going to the beach. This huge public space including lots of restaurants, shops, clothing stores, an IMAX and regular movie theater, a mini golf course, and a lot of other cool stuff. We fed some huge fish when we were on top of the bridge and saw a little boy struggling inside this plastic ball in the lake (it's kind of hard to explain but it was really funny!). We went to Amici's Italian Restaurant for dinner...I had the lasagna and it was sooooo good! I'm actually still full...lol. After dinner we headed back over to the mini golf course and decided to play a round. We quickly learned that the Demarco siblings are BEASTS at golf, with each receive at least 3 holes-in-one. John Deans also joined the hole-in-one crowd. However, I believe the rest of us were not as lucky...maybe another day. We had a really great time at Myrtle Beach and we are looking forward to more trips with the group as the summer continues! :)