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Seaside Memories

Thursday, June 5, 2014
 Our family loves a beach vacation where we can all relax and just have fun together.  For years, we went to Hilton Head and loved it there but then we switched to the Seaside area about 5-6 years ago and we have made so many fun memories there.  My sister and her family always come with us and last year my friend Stacy (who was my first friend--we met around 4)  and her fun, sweet and beautiful daughters came and spent time with us.  I had not seen Stacy in many many years and our kids had not seen one another since they were babies.

Luckily, every year we have a good vacation but some have definitely been better than others.  There was the year we went to Hilton Head the week before we moved here.  That was not our best vacation. We had a lot on our minds that year but we still made the best of our vacation. Then there was the year that Will scratched himself with a bird feather as we were leaving our driveway and by the time we arrived in HH he had a raging staph infection.  He was told to stay out of the sun for the week (due to antibiotics).  It's hard to stay out of the sun at the beach!  Some years we've had more rain than we'd like but still we always have fun.   Last year, for me anyway, was really, really special.  The kids were all at an age where it was effortless.  No one fought.  No one was grumpy.  We laughed and had SO much fun. It was truly one of our best family vacations.

I invited my friend, Stacy and her family to come spend a day or two with us as she lives in Florida.  We had such a blast they ended up staying with us until check out!  It was fun having a house full of kids.  I cannot say exactly what it was but it was a stand out fun vacation for me last year.  I loved it so much.

Also, the last 2 years we have coincidentally been there the same time as this kind, fun family.  I had only known Paige through blogging but she and Dan and her girls are just as wonderful in real life as they are on the blog. Paige and Dan are really fabulous parents and people.  I adore each of their girls.  They are all unique but extraordinary too.  LOVE them.  And we love Trevor too.  My boys look up to him.  Emily actually rode her bike over and spent a day with us at the beach last year and I loved spending time with her.  She has a heart of gold.  Wish I saw them all more often.

This year as we prepare to go again, I am really sad.  My sister and her family cannot come this year.  Paige and her family won't be there.  And I am not sure if Stacy will be able to come visit either (although I am still hoping they will ALL come at the last minute (denial much?))  I know we will have fun as a family.  The boys have a fishing trip planned and we are going on a dolphin/shell island boat trip.  We have our little traditions and things we love to do there. But it will be different too.

I wanted to make a little video of our trip last year but never felt totally motivated to do it until Tuesday.  It was Kate's birthday and I was missing her and needed to occupy my mind.  These take a long time to make. I worked on this on for 4 hours straight. It was a great distraction. My good friend, Shana inspired me to do this as she made an incredible one last year.

Anyway, have a look.  My favorite part is when Kate is doing my brother in law's hair in the pool and my nephew and Kate are just laughing and laughing!

22 comments:

  1. Good times for sure. Love your music choices. So happy!

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    1. So funny Meg. I googled "happy" songs because that is exactly what I wanted:)

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  2. Great video. Definitely worth the 4 hours putting it together. It is so fun to see such happy people enjoying their holiday.

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  3. I'm inspired! Trying to video more and am inspired to put something together now. Cute!

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    1. Oh good Courtney! I am so glad it inspired you to do one! I think the key is being in the right frame of mind. I have all the pics and video clips sitting on my computer for a year. Once I found the 2 songs I wanted, it was easy to sit and work on it. And it is SOOOO worth it. I plan to make one of this year's vacation too.

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  4. Wonderful!!! You have a beautiful family and friends.....I loved the smiles everyone has. Shows a good time was had by all!! Enjoy your vacation this year. I love the Seaside area!!

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    1. Thank you so much Linda. I appreciate the kind words.

      Kim

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  5. The video is awesome. Did you just use iMovie or did you use something else to make it? I've wanted to learn how to make them ever since Shana posted that video on FB!

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    1. Hannah, Thank you so much! I just used I-movie and honestly ..I should have spent a little more time on the transitions but it is super easy once you import the video. I've made them before but you have to have the time to just focus on the project.

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  6. I sooo enjoyed this post Kim - what a great time you had! Looking forward to this year's film. Ps loving that you are blogging a bit more too :)

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    1. Thanks Debbie. With school out and Kate away (and business a little slower), I've had time to catch up on blogging.

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  7. Such sweet memories! Thank you for your prayers on behalf of Roman and Happy Birthday to Kate!

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  8. Love, Love, Love this video.

    You have expressed joy, friendship, family love...

    You are an artist, Kim

    Belén

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  9. Love the video Kim!! What did you use to shoot your video? You have inspired me.

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    1. Thank you Michelle. I bought this Fuji underwater camera with video specifically for our beach/fishing trips.
      http://www.target.com/p/fujifilm-finepix-xp70-waterproof-16mp-digital-camera-with-5x-optical-zoom/-/A-15135483#prodSlot=large_1_1

      I got it on sale. its a good little camera and easy to use. The photos are not the quality of our DSLR's but the video was pretty good.

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  10. Oh my goodness! That was fantastic! What a lovely keepsake of your memories together. Love it! I especially like that you're able to mix videos in with the photos. After seeing that, I really have to get my act together and get more creative!

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  11. I can't wait to see all your pics this year. We went to Rosemary for the first time last year and loved it so we are going back this year. I think that was very close to Seaside!

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  12. Love it! And as always, beautiful pictures! (I'm hoping one day you'll show us your workflow with regard to uploading/editing/actions/etc?) I saw Shana's video, too, and was inspired! I have yet to do it, though:)

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  13. Beautiful video. I am sure you will have an awesome time this year and start some new traditions.

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  14. Oh man, now I want to got to the beach! Great video---- loved the music.

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