July 4th Photo Shoot (Solo Briana)

Dressed in red and blue, I asked Bri if I could take some pictures of her. She was very sweet to oblige...

Sometimes, I just cannot believe how grown up she is.

All About July

It is now September and I'm still talking about summer break. I have some major catch up to do.

Once we got home from our amazing end of June trip, we jumped right into July.

I did put out a few July 4th decorations to get into the spirit...

 

We were so tired from our trip, we made no plans for July 4th holiday. Over the last several years, I had heard about a really great fireworks display done by the neighborhood that is located right next to ours. The neighborhood always shoots them off on July 3rd and I can hear them from my house (just can't see them from my house). I asked Doug and Bri if they wanted to drive down the street to one of the store parking lots this year just to see if we could see them.

So, we headed over to the Dollar Store parking lot around 8:30pm to see if we could see any fireworks. When we got there, there were a few people already setting up folding chairs and such. I knew we were on to something then. Some more people then started showing up. I began to think we might actually see something kind of cool.

 

And then the show began around 9:30...

 

I had no idea how nice the fireworks display would be. Dang! For the years we have been home for the 4th, we never checked this out! We we had done it sooner...

 

 

 For the actual 4th, Doug grilled us an amazing meal - smoked then grilled pork chops, grilled corn on the cobb, steamed onions and baked delicious popovers...

Then we watched the Boston Pops on TV...

And lit some sparklers...

We had a really nice shopping day one day in July. Doug and I took Briana over to the bookstore (she LOVES a good bookstore). We stopped in a really cool holiday store that we had never checked out before. And then, we had burgers at Freddy's Steakburgers...

Briana drove me and Doug to the new Thor movie one day...

Bri and I also met my mom for a nice lunch at McAlister's Deli one day...

I cooked quite a bit in July. I made some yummy summer foods - like shrimp and chicken fajitas and shredded pork (which I used to make sandwiches and pork tacos). Doug made his delicious chicken wings. And he and Briana continued to do a lot of bread baking...

Briana also spent some time with friends...she had a shopping day with her friend Chani, her friend Meredith came over to play pool/hang out and she attended a pottery camp for an entire week with her friend Mary...

Summertime best buds...

Briana got a new cool pair of glasses...

Sadly, my friends and I weren't able to make our annual July 4th photo shoot of our girls happen this year (due to several unavoidable factors), so I asked Bri if I could take a few pics of her on her own. It wasn't the same, but she obliged and I did take some really pretty photos of her (I plan to do a separate blog post of her photos)...

Doug, Bri and I had a great night seeing "Mean Girls" at the Fox Theater in July (I will do a separate post on that as well)...

Doug, Bri and I celebrated Briana's "gotcha day/family day" anniversary on July 30th. We went to the Melting Pot and enjoyed some delicious fondue...

And finally,

Briana attended her school open house for 11th grade. I asked her if she wanted me and Doug to tag along this time or not (since she could really do all this on her own now), but she said she still wanted us to join her - so we did...

 

She ran into her friend Jackson while we were there.

Then suddenly, it was August 1st - the first day of school. July seemed to fly by.

 

Briana truly had an amazing summer...

 

Summer break is only two months long, so we try to fit in as much summer fun as we can yet try to find that right balance between rest and busyness at the same time.

 

 So I have two more posts (the photo shoot and Mean Girls) before I get to Briana starting school. I think I have caught up quite nicely!

Day 7 - Back To The Shack And Heading Home

Briana was really craving crab being so close to the water, so back to the Crab Shack we went. Unfortunately, it's about 30 minutes in the opposite direction from home, so that added on time to our trip. But we had our girl back with us, so crab it was.

 

It was a gorgeous morning. It made it super difficult for us to want to check out of the hotel and leave Savannah. 

 

Very tough...

 

 

 

It was time to say goodbye (I wish Bri could have spent some more time at the hotel)...

 

 The drive once again was really nice...

We were a bit early getting to Tybee (the restaurant doesn't open until noon), so we passed this little hut on the way there. We laughed at the name of the business for like 5 minutes (just like 8 year old boys), and of course we stopped to get some hot nuts...

 

I have to say the hot boiled peanuts were delish.

It was finally shack time (take 2)...

This was the view from our table this time...

Us...

We didn't order shrimp this time and got snow AND king crab. I wish I had gotten a better pic of the king crab - it was HUGE. So delish...

You will notice Briana admiring one of the kitties walking around the restaurant. Full disclosure, Doug noticed some cat yak near our table. Not sure if that kitty was the culprit. Bri and I didn't notice it at first (thank goodness) and he didn't tell us because he didn't want to gross us out. Which it totally would have (and we would have moved tables). But, B and I did eventually notice it after lunch. I guess that is the risk you take eating at an outside restaurant with cats walking around. I deal with my own cat yaking at home and I really don't want to deal with it on vacation - but it is what it is.

We have eaten at the Crab Shack numerous times and have never experienced that issue before, but there's always a first time. So if you eat there, watch your step. Ugh.

After a very nice lunch (besides the cat issue), it was time to head out.

The first three hours of the drive was super smooth. Shocking for the weekend before July 4th. We did hit all sorts of weather - sun, clouds and rain - all in a 5 hour drive...

 

And then we hit south of Atlanta - it straight up sucked. Traffic was horrible. Stop and go. Stop and go. We ended up finally getting off of the highway closer to home and went back roads. It just wasn't worth trying to stick it out.

We were so happy to finally get home and see Mei Mei. 

Despite some personal stuff going on in our lives, we had the most amazing trip. If Bri picks SCAD to go to for college, I wouldn't be mad about it. I'd miss her so much, but I'd get to go to Savannah a whole lot to visit.

Thanks SCAD for giving Briana a wonderful experience...

Who knows - maybe we will be back next year?

Thanks for reading all about our Savannah adventure!!!

Day 6 - A Day At SCAD

Honestly, I cannot believe Briana spent an entire week at a college campus workshop. My introverted, cautious, sometimes hesitant girl jumped in with both feet and had the most amazing week.

She enjoyed two daily art classes and participated in planned camp events every evening. She ate at "The Hive" every day - picking out new foods and texting us pictures of her meals. She took buses to her classes (the campus is spread out all around downtown Savannah). She hung out with people she didn't know - artsy people - like her. She even participated in an optional improv class one afternoon. Who would have thunk? 

  Day 6 (Friday) was parent observation day. Parents could spend the entire day with their student/camper - watching them in their classes, eating meals with them, getting tours of the campus. It was really great. It was awesome for me and Doug to be able to see what Briana's college future might look like (if she does end up at SCAD).

Doug and I decided to head to SCAD mid-morning and drop in toward the end of Briana's first class (she asked us to come early so we could spend the day with her). It was a figure drawing class and there was a super sweet woman model who posed for them every day.

Doug and I registered when we arrived and jumped on a bus to Briana's first class...

We tip-toed in and stayed at the back of the classroom. Music was quietly playing and everyone was working/drawing. The teacher was walking around giving notes. There were a couple of parents already there and a number walked in after we arrived...

It was something to see...

It all felt very "grown up."

We were there about 20 minutes and then class wrapped up. We boarded a bus again to head to Bri's dorm room to gather her stuff up...

Doug and I got to meet her roommate Emily's family and they were so nice. We talked a bit and we packed our girls up and said goodbye. Bri still had one more class, but we didn't need to return to her room after that. We put her suitcases in the car and headed to "The Hive" for lunch...

It was super crowded in there because of all the parents visiting that day...

We were very lucky to find a table in the corner pretty easily...

The food was really good!

 Then it was time to board another bus and head to Briana's next class - character design.

 It was starting to rain at that point...

We got to the building and headed to the classroom...

We arrived early - getting there before the teacher. Briana started getting her art supplies ready and chatted with some of the kids who were there...

There was a stool next to Briana's seat and also an open desk in the back. Doug and I took turns sitting next to Bri and sitting at the open desk. That way we could both take turns watching Bri work. A number of parents were there watching their kids too.

 

As the students worked, the teacher had taken random pictures throughout the week and had them rotating on the screen at the front of the classroom. This was a picture of Bri from earlier in the week...

 

They had to take a fairy tale book character and put a different twist on it. Briana drew "Little Red" - a take on Little Red Riding Hood...

 

 They had been working on their characters for a few days.

That day, everyone had to present their work and explain their characters and get some critique from their peers...

Briana's teacher is on the right above.

 

It was so interesting seeing all the takes on different characters and seeing everyone's different art styles.

Class was over after a couple hours and we walked out of the building to the bus...

On the bus on the way back toward the main campus, I chatted with a woman whose daughter was in Bri's character design class and was also adopted from China. It's always nice to talk to someone who experienced a similar journey to motherhood as I did.

And then it was time to sign us and Briana out of SCAD and head back to the hotel.

Briana had a really good time at camp, but I know she was really tired. The camp made them go, go, go the entire week. B was also ready to sleep in a bed (pull out couch) that wasn't the size of a shoe box.

We didn't make her go out to dinner, so Doug went to get pizza (the same pizza place as night 1). We knew Bri would like it.

Doug got the same meat pizza with caramelized onions as he got before. I got something different - a chicken pizza with pickled onions and leafy greens. Bri had a little of both. My chicken pizza was SOOO good. I liked it better than the mushroom pizza that I had on night 1. It was so delicious...

 

 After we ate, Bri and I sat on the balcony watching the water and talking about her week. I think she was really happy that Doug and I got to see all that she experienced throughout the week...

I felt a sense of peace having her back with me. I was so happy that she had a really good week. I was relieved everything worked out great - for her and for me and for Doug.

I was really sad to have to go home the next day. It really was a wonderful trip. 

Bri had a request - she wanted to eat some crab legs because she didn't get any that week. So it was off to the Crab Shack again the next day before driving home.

Day 7 next...