Hot Chicken and Cupcakes

So our first full day we ran up to Franklin. Eric had a massage and then we were going to head to the downtown Franklin area. Well, parking was hard to find and there was no way I was going to parallel park the massive van so we changed plans and went back to where all the main stores are to eat. We decided to try Bishop's Meat and 3 since they had Hot Chicken, a Nashville area staple, and boy were were glad we did. It is some of the best food we have had in a while. I will warn you though their hot is HOT. Both Eric and Eric ordered hot as they always do and both said it was to much. I was glad I stuck with medium. I got a breast and the skin was so crispy. I usually am not a white meat fan but this was really good. The boys got tenders and it was crispy as well. I didn't try the mac and cheese but that was because Zoey ate it all before I could. I had carrot souffle because it sounded interesting and I could have eaten the whole pan!!!! Think sweet potato casserole but better!!!! We will be back before we go for sure. Trying to convince the family to go on a Tuesday so I can get Liver and Onions.  Yep, I love liver.

Ashton got fried chicken, mac and cheese, and pinto beans. Loved it all.

Eric got HOT hot chicken and green beans. He said the beans were really good. 

William got fried chicken and chicken and dumplings which was excellent as well.

Zoey's KIDS meal! Fried chicken, Mac and cheese and cornbread muffin. 

My medium hot chicken, cornbread, and carrot souffle! OMG I could eat a whole pan of it!

Their menu for the week You can also find it in the link above. 

After dinner the kids begged to go next door to GiGi's Cupcakes. We went just to look but they had buy 5 cupcakes get one free. It was like a sign since there are 6 of us. So without being quite sure how we would manage to fit them in our stomachs we all ordered one. They were nice and moist and came with lots of frosting. Eric remembered the proper cupcake eating method and so some of us followed it. We took the bottom of the cupcake off and put it on top making an icing sandwich. Mmmmmm Me and my rolls were happy.

In case you didn't guess. Zoey got a princess cupcake. 

William got white Midnight Magic and so did Eric

They had no peanut ones today so we gave it a shot and Ashton got Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough 

Eric got Midnight Magic Chocolate Chip

I got Chocolate Salted Caramel

Christmas Eve

So The Hubby's parents came down to visit over Christmas. They rented a condo on the water a bit south of us. Beautiful views and it even had two bedrooms so the boys could spend the night!

Our family has some Christmas Eve traditions. One of them is we go out for seafood dinner. This year we went to Captain Geroge's Seafood. We had been to the one in Virginia Beach and one in Williamsburg before but this was our first time at this one. We were there right when it opened so got seated right away. It was nice to have the in-laws there to help out with getting the kids their food since The Hubby had to get all my food too. Cat Boy and Monkey were excited for the crab legs and I lost count of how many I opened for them. Monkey did try and do some himself but it took him FOREVER. The staff was great with Monkey's allergies and let us know what to stay away from. They said some dessert was safe but we always stay away from dessert in case it was cut with a knife that was used with a nut item. The food was nice and hot and was good. We all stuffed our faces. It was nice getting there early because by the time we were really to roll go home it was filling up.

Another tradition we have is after dinner we go look at Christmas lights. We didn't know where to go so we drove around the neighborhoods where the in-laws were staying. My favorite thing was the Santa Duck. Isn't he so cute? We didn't see a lot of houses decorated but some were really done up so they made it worth it.



When we get home it is always time to open one gift. Another tradition. The gift is always a new pair of pajamas. After everyone changes it is time for the last tradition. The Hubby reads everyone The Night Before Christmas. We then put out cookies for Santa and head to bed.

Gino's Real New York Pizza

For lunch one day we decided to try out Gino's Real New York Pizza in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. It is located just south of Myrtle Beach. Boy were we glad we did. It wasn't buys and the staff was very helpful while we decided what to order. They also made sure to check everything in the food we would be eating to make sure that it was safe for Monkey to eat with his peanut and tree nut allergy. Not only did the lady who took our order check, but I watched as 2 other people from the kitchen checked and double checked everything. This was very comforting to me and I appreciated to effort.

We ended up ordering WAY to much food. We got garlic knots, wings, garlic fries, and two different pizzas. We ended up being able to take some of the pizza home since we had so much food. The food came out in a decent amount of time and was piping hot. Everything was delish and we ate until we were way past stuffed.

Everything was very clean and the price we felt was very fair for as much food as we got. I would definitely recommend you stop by on your next visit to Myrtle Beach. They have two other locations in the Myrtle Beach area. One in Myrtle Beach, and one in North Myrtle Beach so there is bound to be one close to you.

Sadly I didn't get any pictures of the food but here is one of Princess waiting for her food.

Raleigh Oaks RV Resort

Raleigh Oaks RV Resort was a wonderful first stop. It was brand new so everything was in great condition and they were still improving it while we are there. They have two pools and a hot tub. The hot tub is heated but the pools are NOT. They also have a court for pickleball (whatever that is), mini golf, a playground, and some other games.
The Hubby really enjoyed their meeting room. There is a kitchen in there, a big TV, a couple couches, and some recliners. He would sometimes go up there to work. One night we brought the PlayStation in there, ordered a pizza, and had a movie night. You can see Princess enjoyed the recliners too. They also have a room with a pool table he enjoyed.

The bathrooms were very nice and kept very clean. The Hubby and The Boy enjoyed many a nice long,hot shower in them. They are also private with each bathroom having a toilet and shower.

There are 2 laundry rooms. One in the front of the park, and one in the back. They were kept clean and all the machines worked. The first loads I did the water lines were mixed so my cold wash was hot and my hot was cold but they quickly fixed it when I let them know.

Breakfast was included every morning. Waffles!!!! Nothing better then a nice hot breakfast made by someone else (and cleaned up by them). The first day we went and noticed Monkey could not eat the waffles. The mix was not safe for nut allergies due to being made in the same facility as nut products. A few days later a staff member let me know they bought a new mix so he could eat them. I was sooooo happy and so was he. That gave them 5 stars in my book.

Internet was good as well. They have free wi-fi internet or you could upgrade to a hardwire line which was a nice option. The sites come with cable as well. They also have cabins that you can rent or visitors can rent when coming to visit you. You can see some in the pretty sunset picture I took from our site. We had one of the premium sites which were on the outside. They were very long and had a lot of space. The inside spots were a really good size as well. You can see one of the laundry room and bathroom buildings off in the distance of the picture of us in the spot.

Overall this was a great RV park. We recommend it highly and would absolutely stay there again.

Random fun in North Carolina

This post is just full of some randomness I came across when looking through pictures for my North Carolina posts. Nothing super exciting but they were cute/fun so I wanted to share.

The Boy loves fried rice. I mean LOVES. As in, will lick EVERY. SINGLE. GRAIN. off his plate. It's a sickness really. Though I should just be happy his rice does not drown swim in soy sauce like Cat Boy's. So anyway, he wanted to learn how to make fried rice himself so I showed him how. He now makes it all the time. He does a really good job and it is quite yummy. It is great that he can make it now because it not only frees me up to work on a meat, but we can't eat Chinese food out at many places because it is riddled with cross contamination for nut allergies. Here are some pictures from his first go at it.
The boys left their closet open one day. All four kids share the same closet. Princess and Money have their clothes that are not hung up on the bottom shelf. She took this opportunity to bring me as many clothes as possible to put on her, at the SAME time. So yeah, that was funny. She walked around in her many, many, layers for hours that day. In the first picture she is standing in the doorway with some of our clothes she had been carrying around too. She didn't want them on, she just carried them. Picture two is the amended outfit after a diaper change and for nap time. Apparently the footie jammies were just to much for nap time. Oh and if you are looking for a great travel bed option for your little one we LOVE our KidCo Peapod Plus Portable Bed. We had a problem with it at one point and the company was AMAZING and sent us a new one right away. For FREE! I would highly recommend it and the KidCo company (And yes that is an affiliate link) KidCo Peapod Plus Portable Bed - Kiwi When she is not sleeping in her KidCo tent she just sleeps wherever apparently. Picture 3 was right before she fell asleep. She was watching tv. Yes, I moved her so she didn't fall off.

So while at breakfast one day at the office of the RV park the kids and I were talking to the front desk lady. We got to talking about snow and I mentioned I grew up outside Chicago. Turns out she did too....then it turned out we grew up in the same area....and went to the same high school....and graduate the SAM YEAR! I mean really what are the odds of that? SHOUT OUT JEN! So needless to say we spent a lot of morning eating and talking. So one day she told the kids she would give them $1 if they would go all the way in the pool. Now, the hot tub is heated but the pool is NOT. It hadn't been filled very long and it was November, so it was like an ICE BATH. The older boys wanted no part of it but Monkey was all over it if she would up it to $5. So she did. So later that day we got our suits on and Monkey went to do the challenge. Now I ended up taking about 4 different videos and he never did do it. Once he did dunk the very top of his head in for about half a second but then ran screaming to the hot tub. LOL This is the main video I took though. Good times, good times.


Princess learned how to turn on the radio in the rig. So she would (and still does) turn it on and make people dance with her. FOREVER. Really, she rotates through people till she gets bored. She NEVER gets bored.....we eventually all just collapse or try 50 things to distract her. This girl really loves to dance. Picture one is her and The Boy dancing, picture two is a shirt I had to get her because of the reaction when we stop dancing with her, or really any time she does not get what she wants, or thinks she might not get what she wants, or food is cooking, or the fan in the car is on, or, well you get the picture. It says My name is Princess Fussy-Pants and the shirt isn't lying.
Meet Tongue. He is a cat that Cat Boy HAD to have when we were at the mall one day. So The Hubby went back and got it for him as a birthday present. Cat Boy took this picture of him. I just had to share because it's to cute. Next we have my old Care Bears! My mom kept them from when I was little and used them for her daycare kids. Monkey and I had been watching Care Bears so I asked her to send them to me. Princess loves them and plays with them all the time. In picture three you can even see one must not be feeling well. She is putting some Young Living oil on it. She knows what is good for her Care Bears. The last picture is of a panda at BJ's. No, we did not buy it! We don't have the room. She did however hug it and talk to it all through the store. She was just fine when we put it back at the end of our trip. I was hard to do because she like him and he was soooooooooo soft.