Beautiful weekend :)

We proudly flew our American Flag this weekend in honor of those who have strived, lived, and died to make this country great.  :) 

This weekend was also amazing because we were spoiled and had my sister-in-law, Laura, and her boyfriend, David, in town :)  Family makes you feel like a million bucks, and we had SUCH a good time.  I think I may need another weekend after our fun-filled weekend, because it wasn't for the weary/tired. 

Our bottles of red wine!!

Friday I came home from work, and we went out to dinner at Hops (a great, cheap restaurant).  We made a pit-stop by Total Wine and bought a few that were recommended to us.  They were fabulous!!  If you don't love wine there is something wrong with you ;)  We also saw The Hangover 2.  I'll admit, I never saw The Hangover, so some of the jokes went over my head.  It was still a good romp.

Saturday Laura and I went to a Zumba class in the morning, and then we went out to Lake Wylie to see a property Char's parents were interest in.  It turned out to be a bust of a place, but the food on the lake was amazing.  Can't go wrong there :)  After a nap we were ready for some hanging out and my birthday party downtown :) Many of our Charlotte friends came, and I felt very loved :)

After lunch on the lake

T-bones...best restaurant in Lake Wylie!

My birthday night at Kristopher's!

 Sunday was church in the AM and then we headed out to the U.S. National White Water center...by far the highlight of the weekend.  We also met up with David's brother, Chris, and his girlfriend, Jenny, who came in from Raleigh.  We only intended to paddle on the calm river, but when we got there, the rapids were calling.  We promptly rented Crocks (and although I am fashion-anti Crocks they were very, very comfortable):

My Crocks!

Right before rafting!

I was afraid of rafting at first, unsure if I could to it, and really afraid I was going to fall overboard, but I thought, "How often does THAT happen?  Probably not very often.  These people know what they are doing."  However, after a mandatory seminar about what to do when you fall out, your raft capsizes on top of you, or you flip out and float away from the boat, I was pretty freaked.  I told our guide before we boarded, "I just don't want to be the one to flip out, okay?"   Famous last words :P

Our guide told us he would take us on 3-4 level rapids because were were the young adults group.  To give you an idea, 6 is Niagara falls, 1 is your bathtub.  David, my sister-in-law's boyfriend, is 6'5" and his brother is about 6'8".  I think we looked like we were ready for a crazy ride and our guide said he had done "families" all day and was ready for some fun.  Gulp???

It was insane, and before we finished the 1st lap around, Chris, the 6'8" guy, flew midair out of our raft and floated away...we had to meet him at the next bend.  On the next run, David, Charlie, and Chris popped out...  I thought for sure I had this stay in the boat thing down.

Then something like this happened:

It was actually pretty awesome.  I don't even remember flying in the air.  I just remember our guide passing me his oar and blowing his whistle.  I was yanked back in and contrary to how I thought I would feel, I had a giant smile plastered across my face:  That was AWESOME.  You gotta live a little.  :)

Following the rapids, we stuck around for some life music and a drink. We crashed so hard that night, as I'm sure you can imagine.

Monday was a day of lazing about in the sunshine, reading, and getting a pedicure with my sister-in-law.  I may even have gotten a little color.  I know, scandalous, right? ;) 

I couldn't have asked for a better Memorial Day weekend.  I hope you had fun wherever you were...